This project in the East Hamptons, NY. utilizing 8" mirrored SIP walls, as far as we know the fist time its been done. Roof will be 12" thick with smooth #8 mirrored soffit/ Fascia..........................That is the panel joint below showing the reflection..............

What is the purpose of having it mirrored (besides making your neighbors angry)?

Posted By Lbear on 12 Sep 2012 02:11 AM
What is the purpose of having it mirrored (besides making your neighbors angry)?

It is in a heavily wooded area and will reflect the natural landscape around it, at first glance it will appear to blend in with its surroundings

Wild!!! A stealth house. What is the mirrored surface made of? I wouldn't want to be the person who has to mow or trim around that house. Is there some kind of clear cover to prevent the mirror from getting scratched up and non reflective?

-Rosalinda

Rosalinda, it is #8 polished stainless steel, the tallest wall will be 36 ft. tall.

It'll look better when it's the woods, not the crane, excavation, & material piles in the reflection, eh? ;-)

How bad is the solar glare going to be?

I assume this is in a very isolated area with no neighbors nearby?

Posted By cmkavala on 12 Sep 2012 05:32 PM
Rosalinda, it is #8 polished stainless steel, the tallest wall will be 36 ft. tall.

Chris,

Can this also be used for a roof?  Would it reflect more heat than a "cool" color?

Posted By Alton on 12 Sep 2012 07:15 PM

Posted By cmkavala on 12 Sep 2012 05:32 PM
Rosalinda, it is #8 polished stainless steel, the tallest wall will be 36 ft. tall.

Chris,

Can this also be used for a roof?  Would it reflect more heat than a "cool" color?

I assume the reflectivity would be fairly high, but the emissivity of uncoated metal is actually quite low.  Reflectivity helps it avoid gaining heat from radiation, but emissivity determines how it would shed heat once it's got it.  You might be better off with a painted surface, particularly if it's a paint designed for both high reflectivity and high emissivity.  Low emissivity might be considered helpful in a heating climate (which it appears applies to this house), but it would be a rather small effect assuming the roof is well insulated anyway.

Plus, you wouldn't have the risk of blinding passing aircraft pilots.  ;)

To be strictly correct, convection also determines how well a surface sheds heat. Ie, a high reflectivity, low emissivity surface can be cool if you have something to get rid of the small amount of radiant heat that it does retain. On a vertical surface (or even high slope), airflow naturally causes that to occur.

Alton; yes they can be used for a roof too, I don't know they would be better than a cool color

I highly doubt that local city & county ordinances would allow such a mirrored roof to be placed in anything but a completely isolated and rural spot.

How many birds will meet their fate when they crash into this wall?

Posted By Lbear on 12 Sep 2012 09:12 PM
I highly doubt that local city & county ordinances would allow such a mirrored roof to be placed in anything but a completely isolated and rural spot.

How many birds will meet their fate when they crash into this wall?

Lbear;
I said it was heavily wooded, not rural, it it is within the city limits of East Hampton, NY , one of the most restrictive code enforcement areas in the US. East Hampton ony allows East Hampton architects to design buildings within the city limits.
Could be a bird problem

Posted By cmkavala on 12 Sep 2012 08:30 PM
Alton; yes they can be used for a roof too, I don't know they would be better than a cool color

If you can get the emissivity & reflectivity specs on the steel, there's a solar reflectance index (SRI) calculator developed by folks at the Lawrence Berkeley Nat'l Labs that would give you data like peak surface temps under standard test conditions, etc., which good for apples-to-apples comparisons of cool-roof materials.

For any roof with a pitch over 2:13 in climate zones 4 and higher cool-roofs end up adding more to the heating load than they remove from the cooling load though.  But for low pitched roofs or climate zones 1-3 there's usually a net benefit on energy use though.

Posted By Dana1 on 13 Sep 2012 03:49 PM


For any roof with a pitch over 2:13 in climate zones 4 and higher cool-roofs end up adding more to the heating load than they remove from the cooling load though.  But for low pitched roofs or climate zones 1-3 there's usually a net benefit on energy use though.

ORNL computer modeling for Chicago (Zone 5) shows that for year-round energy efficiency, a highly reflective, low emissivity roof gives the lowest energy cost. The roof of a home is viewed as an insignificant source for heat gain during winter in all but maybe Zones 6-8. ASHRAE


ORNL REPORT

SRI Calculator

DOE Cool Roof Calculator

it is creating the desired effect...........

Assuming that one doesn't have to re-polish it, I like it. Do I dare ask how much it adds to the cost?

jonr; it adds about $10. per sq. ft. to the panels

Ouch - a mylar film over steel might be better.

Posted By jonr on 15 Sep 2012 01:49 PM
Ouch - a mylar film over steel might be better.

it would also peel off