What are some good companies that make reflective standing seam metal roofs?

HOA does not allow anything that has greater than 40% LRV (Light Reflective Value).

Posted By Lbear on 11 Jul 2012 04:14 AM
What are some good companies that make reflective standing seam metal roofs?

HOA does not allow anything that has greater than 40% LRV (Light Reflective Value).

How do they gauge 40%? There are a lot of silver or white roofs in our area.

If the roof has slope of 2:12 or more, you will find that the solar reflectance doesn't make that much difference. I've heard good things about Kynar coated galvalume.

Fabral MBCI ,Peterson aluminum , Some have cool colors that are not reflective to the appearance but do reflect radiant heat .

HOA does not allow anything that has greater than 40% LRV (Light Reflective Value).

40% isn't much. A lot of places allow 65%. Does the roof slope matter in your HOA regs?

Some contractors can form the standing seam roof on site. No waste, and saves a lot of money!

Posted By ICFHybrid on 11 Jul 2012 09:42 AM

HOA does not allow anything that has greater than 40% LRV (Light Reflective Value).

40% isn't much. A lot of places allow 65%. Does the roof slope matter in your HOA regs?

They don't care about roof slope, you can have flat or whatever you want. My roof is a 5:12 pitch.

Cool roof finishes don't have to be very reflective to work well.

http://heatisland.lbl.gov/sites/heatisland.lbl.gov/files/Beyond%20White%20-%20Advances%20in%20cool%20colors%20Brochure.pdf

http://www.coolmetalroofing.org/elements/uploads/files/fileManager/CECFinalReportHA07%28senttoCEC%29-150dpi.pdf

I'm not sure who's out there measuring the LRV with the precision that solar reflectance and IR emissivity when it comes to metal roof finishes though. I can only recall seeing LRV specs on paints. (But I haven't exactly been looking for it either.)

Posted By Dana1 on 11 Jul 2012 06:29 PM

I'm not sure who's out there measuring the LRV with the precision that solar reflectance and IR emissivity when it comes to metal roof finishes though. I can only recall seeing LRV specs on paints. (But I haven't exactly been looking for it either.)

What the HOA will request is documentation showing the LRV.

No colors shall be used (on roofs) which have a Light Reflective Value (LRV) greater
than forty percent (40%). The LRV of a color is available from manufacturers and it
measures the amount of light reflected by a certain color.

That want "dark roofs", evidently for aesthetic reasons.

How does one know where to draw the line between reflecting heat and saving on A/C costs vs not reflecting heat and saving on heating costs? Is there some imaginary longitude that is the break even point?

Posted By Lbear on 13 Jul 2012 12:26 AM

Posted By Dana1 on 11 Jul 2012 06:29 PM

I'm not sure who's out there measuring the LRV with the precision that solar reflectance and IR emissivity when it comes to metal roof finishes though. I can only recall seeing LRV specs on paints. (But I haven't exactly been looking for it either.)

What the HOA will request is documentation showing the LRV.

No colors shall be used (on roofs) which have a Light Reflective Value (LRV) greater
than forty percent (40%). The LRV of a color is available from manufacturers and it
measures the amount of light reflected by a certain color.

They can request what they like, but if it doesn't exist nobody will be able to deliver.  In searching specs for roofing materials (many types), I've yet to see an LRV number.  Lots of roofing materials specify an SRI, but that's is somewhat orthogonal to LRV, since LRV is only about visible spectrum reflectance.  LRV is seen often in specs for exterior paints.

ORNL & LBNL Website On Cool Roofs

* High Solar Reflectance & High Infrared Emittance roofs are best for a climate like mine (southern desert)
* Studies showed dark asphalt roof temperature increases of up to 70F when compared to ambient outdoor temps (90F air temp = 160F roof temp)
* Reflective roof study showed cooling energy reductions of 600 - 1,100 kWh in South Florida (1,400 sqft home, single story)

Interesting study. Now finding a company that sells/manufacturers metal standing seam "cool roofs" is another challenge in itself.

I am surprised at how much heat is reflected by our un-painted Galvalume roof. I was looking at a solar hot water option with a purlin system that goes under the roofing, but after some tests, there's not enough heat there to be worth it. On a bright, hot, sunny day, a thermometer under a piece of Galvalume was only 20 degrees warmer than the ambient air temperature. Of course, the homeowner's association would have a cow if you put up Galvalume!

Posted By jdebree on 02 Oct 2012 06:52 AM
I am surprised at how much heat is reflected by our un-painted Galvalume roof. I was looking at a solar hot water option with a purlin system that goes under the roofing, but after some tests, there's not enough heat there to be worth it. On a bright, hot, sunny day, a thermometer under a piece of Galvalume was only 20 degrees warmer than the ambient air temperature. Of course, the homeowner's association would have a cow if you put up Galvalume!

Yep, that would not fly with the HOA. I will need a roof that reflects the heat but doesn't cause blinding glares. Shiny reflective roofs will not work for me. Luckily they make cool roofs that don't cause glares like that and they even make them in other colors besides white.

I got the roofing in a color called "Copper Penny". Everyone comments on how much they like the color and I think it qualifies as a cool roof. I'm always surprised at how cool it is even under intense sun.

These are the main "cool roof" companies that were registered with the EPA and recognized by LBNL. There might be more but in order to be termed "cool roof" they must comply with the EPA and the ORNL & LBNL parameters. In the end they must display the SRI numbers for the roofing material.

  3M Industrial Minerals (St. Paul, MN);
• Akzo Nobel (Macungie, PA);
• American Rooftile Coatings (Fullerton, CA);
• BASF Industrial Coatings (Southfield, MI);
• CertainTeed Corporation (Valley Forge, PA);
• Custom-Bilt Metals (Chino, CA);
• Elk Corporation (Ennis, TX);
• GAF Materials (Wayne, NJ);
• Hanson Roof Tile (Fontana, CA);
• ISP Minerals (Hagerstown, MD);
• MCA Clay Tile (Corona, CA);
• Monier Lifetile (Thousand Oaks, CA);
• Owens Corning (Granville, OH);
• Steelscape Inc. (Kalama, WA).

LBNL STUDY

Not a useful list.

Those are just companies who have cool roofing pigments or materials in their research or product lines. There are hundreds of companies that make the actual cool roofing. In fact., every roofing company I recently looked at offered cool roofing in their lineup.

Posted By ICFHybrid on 03 Oct 2012 08:36 AM
Not a useful list.

Those are just companies who have cool roofing pigments or materials in their research or product lines. There are hundreds of companies that make the actual cool roofing. In fact., every roofing company I recently looked at offered cool roofing in their lineup.

The problem I encountered is that a lot of those roofing companies DO NOT post their SRI numbers or better yet, their aged SRI numbers. According to ORNL, certain reflective coatings can lose their reflective properties by as much as 30% within the first 3 years.

Every roofing product that is installed will need to carry a packaging label that lists the product's reflectance and emittance as tested in accordance with ASTM standards. All cool roofs must be ENERGY STAR qualified.

This list is much more detailed (over 250 pages) and if the roof is NOT listed on this page, it is not a certified cool roof:

CCRC Energy Star Certified Cool Roofs

Table 1 – Specifications for Low-Slope Roof Products

Characteristic	Performance Specification
Initial Solar Reflectance	≥ 0.65
Aged Solar Reflectance	≥ 0.50

DO NOT post their SRI numbers or better yet, their aged SRI numbers

I never had any difficulty finding that information on a roofing product I was interested in. Truth is that most companies which make or sell roofing are going to use materials or coatings from a yet smaller number of suppliers. Nearly every reputable manufacturer is going to have a cool roof product of some kind.