Homemade Solar Cell

White roofs reduce the amount of heat absorbed by a structure. Most flat roofs are made of tar, asphalt or EPDM, all of which are dark. All flat roofs should be white.

When your roof is dark it absorbs more heat. If you you are inside the building, then you lower the thermostat so the air conditioner runs longer. Now you are using more electricity. The power plants have to produce more power. To do this, they burn more gas, oil or coal.

In an urban environment the exhaust from air conditioners can affect the outside temperature by as much as 6-8 degrees. You cannot notice it with one air conditioner but with thousands in a city the effect can be measured.

The heat increase is a cycle. The hotter the outside, the more people try to cool the inside and the more air conditioning exhaust is generated. The icrease of temperature around urban environments is called the heat island effect.

Heat Island research is conducted to locate, understand, and implement solutions to the summer warming trends occurring in urban areas. The Heat Island Group focuses on the study and development of reflective surfaces for buildings and roadways. The Heat island Group demonstrates potential energy savings through the use of cool roofing technologies.

A cool roof is a specially designed roof with a reflective coating that pervents the solar radiation from seeping into the structure of the building. Studies show that a cool roof can prevent as much as 68% of the sun’s energy from reaching the building structure.

In addition to this, many cool roofing products are elastomeric which allows them to waterproof and seal any existing roof.

Even if you have an old roof whose surface is breaking down, a liquid applied membrane installed by a professional roofing contractor can not only help you reduce your electric bill, it can also restore your existing roof without the need to remove all the old roofing materials.

Want to find out more about flat roof repair, then visit Robert Mack’s site on how to choose the best roof restoration for your needs.