We’re in the MidWest and right now- thanks to Snowzilla- most peoples roofs are white. But come the sun and a few days with double digit temps (yes, we’re optimists) and the white stuff will disappear.
Around here- dark roofs are sort of the norm. Yes, over the last 15 years as energy efficiency has been more important- we’ve seen a move to lighter color asphalt shingles, but even the lightest gray asphalt shingle is nothing like a white metal roof.
A study in Florida proved that white metal roofing is the most energy efficient roof- even surpassing unpainted metal!
Late last year the Florida Solar Energy Center released the results of a real-world study of the heat gains in houses with different metal roofing materials. The experiment monitored indoor cooling energy usage for seven side-by-side homes in Ft. Myers, during the summer of 2000. Each home was virtually identical except for roofing material (one had a sealed attic and roof deck insulation).
The study showed that white S-tile produced the lowest attic heat gain.
But the home with the white metal roof posted the lowest overall cooling cost.
Compared to a dark gray shingle roof, the study reported, “a white, galvanized metal roof should save a customer who lives in an average-sized 1,770 square foot home approximately $128 or 23 percent annually in cooling costs.” Flat white tile offered a savings of 17 percent. Terra cotta roofing, the most popular roofing material in Florida, netted a modest $15, or 3 percent savings over dark shingle.
via Metal Roofing News and Resources – Metal Roofing Alliance.
Up here we don’t see many clay S-tile, and of course, you can now get metal tile that looks almost identical to s-tile (just make sure your condo association doesn’t have a problem with metal imitating clay like this guy found). But, we don’t see many white metal roofs either.
Part of that might be that we have trees that drop staining leaves- like the black walnut tree next door to me. And, we can’t get up to clean the roofs year round- if that pristine white look is your idea of sexy.
But, moving to a lighter roof of any kind does make a difference- and a white metal roof may just be the most energy efficient of them all. Put it underneath your modern solar panels (which are almost always black) and do it artfully- and you can have the ultimate hipster look on top of your home or commercial building.