Did you know that most commercial buildings in the US spend nearly 50% of their energy resources on heating and cooling the space? Can you imagine how much money can be saved if this energy expenditure is greatly reduced?
Luckily, there is a great way to do that – by using energy-efficient roofing. The roof of your commercial building or warehouse can absorb a lot of heat during hot summer days. As a result, you have to spend tons of dollars cooling down your establishment.
Avoid that and save a lot of money each year by implementing these tips to make the roof of your business a more energy-efficient one!
1. Go For Lighter Colors For Your Commercial Roof
Colors have a great impact on how sunlight is absorbed. As you probably already know, darker colors tend to trap more light rays and the object in question gets much hotter. Lighter colors, on the other hand, act as deflectors, redirecting the sunlight and keeping the object cooler. This is true whether we talk about the color of a car, a clothing item or your commercial roof.
Therefore, make sure that you paint your roof in lighter tones such as yellow, silver or light blue. These colors work well with most commercial buildings and they drastically reduce energy consumption over the year.
2. Apply Special Coatings to Deflect More Sunlight
What if you already have a roofing option installed and you don’t have the budget the replace it altogether yet? Also, what if your commercial roof is already painted black and you don’t want to repaint it? In these cases, you can use a cool coating for your roof.
Cool coatings are designed to be reflective and they help to keep the surface temperature of the roof as low as possible. In some cases, a simple cool coating can reduce the roof temperature by half and it’s also easy to apply on most roofs.
The coating works by deflecting most of the sunlight away from your roof. You don’t need to install special components or modify your roof in any way. Also, you can still use your roof as previously and the cool coatings can last for many years. These coatings cannot be damaged by extreme temperature and weather conditions such as snow, hailstorms, heavy rain, etc, and they require little to no maintenance over the course of their lifespan.
3. Add Insulation to Your Commercial Roof
On top of installing a metallic roof to keep excessive sunlight and heat at bay, you should also add insulation under the roof. Various insulation materials can be used, including cellulose fiber, polyurethane, and more. The extra layers of insulation will prevent the transfer of heat or coolness, so you pay less on your energy bill over time.
On top of that, you should also ensure that the air circulates freely under the roof. Installing a few ventilation options such as fans and rafter vents is the right thing to do in this case. This will prevent the buildup of heat under the roof and it will prevent the accumulation of moisture which causes mold and mildew.
Venting your roof properly will also make the HVAC system work more efficiently. If a lot of heat accumulates under the roof in hot summer days, this will make the HVAC system work overtime. As a result, you’ll pay more for your energy bill and you might need to maintain your AC unit more often because it works at maximum capacity all the times. A few vents installed here and there can mitigate this problem, so make sure you install them on your commercial roof.
4. Add Skylights to Your Commercial Roof
If you don’t know already, skylights are windows in the roof. These are high-quality windows that allow plenty of sunlight to enter your building. Skylights can also be opened or closed to allow fresh air inside and they come in various shapes and sizes. Adding a few skylights to the roof of your commercial building also improves its curb appeal and raises the property value.
You might be happy to find out that skylights can also be fully automatic and controlled by a remote. They feature a sensor that detects rainfall, for example, and automatically closes the skylights for you. It’s possible to also set timers for the skylights to be opened at a certain time during the day to allow fresh air to get in. This will make your workers happy!
Thanks to the fact that skylights allow more sunlight to enter your offices, you might not need to use artificial lighting that often. This can cut down on your energy bill in the long run, so skylights can save you money and reduce your company’s carbon footprint.
5. Add A Few Solar Panels on Your Commercial Roof
If you have just added a metallic roofing option to your commercial building but still want to make your roof more energy efficient then you might want to add a few solar panels as well. Today’s solar panels are increasingly effective and cheaper, being able to harness a lot of sunlight and use it to power various electrical systems in your company.
In other words, not only that you’re deflecting sunlight, you’re actually using it to the benefit of your business. Most solar panels will pay for themselves in a few years and this addition will reduce your business’ carbon footprint as well.
The solar panel systems can also be installed in multiple ways. for example, most business owners go for flat solar panels that sit on top of your commercial roof and convert the sunlight into electricity. Other solar panel systems are slightly tilted or they can tilt automatically to point in the direction of the sun. This system maximizes energy absorption and makes your solar panels more efficient at producing electricity.
What Energy-Efficient Roofing Is More Appealing To You?
This is just a short list of energy-efficient roofing options at your disposal, but there are plenty of others. Which one inspired you? If you’re still not sure yet, check out our blog article on how PVC roofing can help your business and save you thousands of dollars in the long run!
