Sustainable Roofing

Are You Ready for the Newest Benefit in Cool Roofing?

Over the past three years that Jim Kirby and I have been writing the Sustainable Roofing column, we have frequently recommended that roofing contractors become the local experts in areas where roofing intersects critical energy and environmental issues. Examples of areas of expertise we have discussed in this column include rooftop solar, daylighting, recycling and cool roofing. As we end our third year of discussing sustainable roofing, I’d like to mention a new opportunity involving cool roofs and energy savings that may offer an outstanding opportunity to generate new sales and profit for your company.savings that may offer an outstanding opportunity to generate new sales and profit for your company.

On Nov. 11, I had the opportunity to present a free webinar sponsored by Architectural Roofing & Waterproofing titled “Reducing Peak Electrical Demand: The Hidden Benefit of Cool Roofs.” In this webinar, I discussed how many electrical utilities in the United States now include peak demand charges in their monthly electrical bills. These peak demand charges are targeted toward the highest usage periods of the day, usually in the heat of the late afternoon when air conditioning demand is the highest. Because peak demand charges may account for up to 50 percent or more of a typical electrical bill, even small reductions in peak electricity usage can have a big effect in reducing your customers’ monthly electrical costs.

Peak electrical demand may be reduced using many different approaches, but one of the most compelling and cost-effective strategies may be the installation of a highly reflective cool roof, especially if a building is due for a roof replacement or recover. In fact, there may be few if any locations across the United States where a cool roof won’t reduce the electrical bill, especially if the local utility has instituted a peak demand component of the monthly rate structure. As an added bonus, it’s easy to get a handle on the potential peak demand savings using a special version of the well-known DOE Cool Roof Calculator that we have mentioned previously in this column. This version of the calculator, called the Cool Peak Calculator, is currently available in an easy-to-use online version at absolutely no charge.

Of course, it’s not possible to adequately discuss everything you need to know to become the local peak energy expert in your market in this column, but the good news is that the folks at Architectural Roofing & Waterproofing have archived last month’s webinar on www.arwarchitect.com/webinars, and access is free with registration. I encourage you to register for the recorded webinar and view it at your leisure. After you listen to it and review the material included, I think you’ll agree that reducing peak electrical demand cost is a new potential benefit of cool roofs — and a benefit you can easily integrate into your business.

Thanks for your support for the past three years, and best of success for 2015!

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