{"id":10066,"date":"2018-07-23T15:00:39","date_gmt":"2018-07-23T19:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/roofingmagazine.com\/?p=10066"},"modified":"2018-07-23T08:00:43","modified_gmt":"2018-07-23T12:00:43","slug":"cool-roofs-are-still-a-hot-topic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roofingmagazine.com\/cool-roofs-are-still-a-hot-topic\/","title":{"rendered":"Cool Roofs Are Still a Hot Topic"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Figure 1. ASHRAE Climate Zone Map. Cool roofs are currently required in Zones 1-3 only.<\/p><\/div>\n

The overwhelming consensus is that cool roofs are a clear top choice in warm climates, but what about cooler ones?<\/p>\n

Studies and decades of real-world experience clearly show that cool roofs are net energy savers and improve thermal comfort in Climate Zones 1-3. The model codes (ASHRAE and the I-codes) already include requirements for some new and replacement roofs to be highly reflective in these areas.<\/p>\n

But what about \u201ccool, northern\u201d climates like Climate Zone 4? Shown in yellow on the ASHRAE Climate Zone Map in Figure 1, Zone 4 stretches from the Mid-Atlantic across the southern Appalachian states to the southern Midwest.<\/p>\n

There are a number of myths that have led to a notion that the dividing line between \u201cwarm\u201d and \u201ccool\u201d lies between Climate Zone 3 and Zone 4. In \u201ccool\u201d climates where heating degree days outnumber cooling degree days, the traditional thinking goes, the cost of extra heating demand caused by cool roofs in winter would offset the cooling energy cost savings in summer. Despite decades of market experience and a vast body of research supporting the net benefits of cool roofs in Climate Zone 4, this line of thinking has been an obstacle to cool roof policy in the United States. Let\u2019s dispel some of those myths by looking at a few facts.<\/p>\n