The advantages of incorporating a cool roof assembly or green roof as part of your commercial or industrial roofing retrofit project are many.
Cool Roofs refer to waterproofing membranes on commercial, industrial, or institutional roofs which are designed to reflect the sun’s ultra-violet rays and that can result in lower heating and cooling costs for the roof asset holder, especially if combined with increased thermal insulation within the roof assembly.
Many will agree that more important is contributing to curbing the urban heat island effect. Major North American Cities recognize the fact that such items as pavement, asphalt rooftops, and emissions resulting from large commercial/industrial facilities serve to raise the temperature of our living environments.
The result is higher energy usage and costs to heat and cool such facilities. As energy costs rise and as we are as a society challenged to reduce our carbon footprint, the decision to select a cool roof assembly can provide dividends to the building stakeholder and our environment alike.
The City of Toronto had adopted a progressive view, following large cities like Chicago, New York, and Philadelphia which have previously mandated the use of cool roofing on commercial new builds and retrofit roofing projects.
Where existing commercial and industrial structures that may require re-roofing are concerned; in Toronto and the GTA there is no requirement at this time to use a cool or green roof, but it does provide the building owners with some added benefits.
To learn more about The City Of Toronto‘s Green Roofing By-law, or to learn about what incentives they currently provide, visit The City’s Eco-Roof Incentive Program.
Essentially cool roofs supply a highly reflective white surfaced membrane to reflect the sun’s ultraviolet rays.
