Metal
and Ceramic Tile roofs
Metal roofs & Advantages
Metal roofs are durable and have some advantages in energy terms
over asphalt shingles. In sunny climates metal roofs may provide
energy cooling savings up to 20% relatively to asphalt shingles
roofs.
Besides, metal roofs are fire retardant and have almost free
maintenance.
Metal roofs disadvantages
Bare metal roofs and metallic coatings have low emissivity -
they trap and block solar radiation instead of reflecting it
-and aren’t truly cool roof materials.
To get a truly good cooling performance the metal should contain
a coating able to offset the low emissivity of the bare metal.
These coatings – often a polymeric - are very similar to paint
and may be factory-applied.
Ceramic roofs & Tiles
Ceramic roofing tiles can be a good roof cooling solution,
namely those fabricated from cement.
Ordinary red-barrel tiles made from clay are a natural and
environmental product, with a reasonable energy performance, but
the better roofing tiles are modern versions, namely
lighted cement tiles with energy-efficient coatings. Solar
reflectance for some traditional types of ceramic tiles may
around 0.20, while the best white concrete tiles provide a value
four times higher.
Color may be important when choosing ceramic and cement tiles
(prefer a light color...), though not as important as in the
past, in the case of some new versions of these products.
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