Completed in the spring of 2008, the cool and green roof demonstration/research project of Ann Arbor, Mich.-based architecture and design firm A3C took place atop its UrbEn Retreat. The project was implemented with the assistance of Firestone Building Products and in collaboration with Prof. Moji Nawab of the University of Michigan’s Sustainable Design Research Lab.
David Welch is a roofing contractor who also happens to be a pilot. His vocation of roofing and his hobby of flying have come together in the form of a new service being offered by his company: roof inspections via infrared (IR) thermography.
As green building strategies evolve to keep up with increasingly stringent building energy codes and standards, so do cool roofs. A roof, as any other building component, can be selected to best serve a particular purpose, such as weather resistance or thermal regulation. Cool roofs are optimally designed to minimize the transfer of heat from the sun to the interior of a building.
New Jersey’s Atlantic City Convention Center is the largest single roof-mounted, grid-connected solar system in the United States. At almost 500,000 square feet, the project is a huge investment for the city, which wasn’t about to gamble on its new roof. Facility managers wisely chose to enhance their energy saving investment with a durable and highly reflective TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin) roof membrane.
Metal roofing systems have a good track record of performance in harsh winter environments, as long as they are properly designed. The key factors are usually snow loading requirements, adequate slope, and the use of snow guards when needed. If these issues are addressed during the design stage and the roofing contractor does his job, these systems will almost always perform as intended.
A few years ago it seemed like something out of science fiction, but now roofing contractors around the country are routinely using cameras that detect infrared (IR) radiation to conduct roof inspections and pinpoint roof leaks.
In a development outside Knoxville, Tenn., four houses are being constructed that will put to the test much of what’s new in energy-saving products for the roof and home.
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