Top 10 Green Roofing Options for Your Home

Green roofing options abound for Atlanta homeowners willing to take the time to investigate the best options that get a high return. Innovative roofing manufacturers have gone well beyond the standard asphalt shingles that litter roofs across America. Now, you can choose from green roofs that last longer, help you save more energy and increase your home’s value.

Here are some of the options from which you can choose:

• Tile. Tiles are coveted for their ability to “green” a roof. They are recyclable, making them a leader in green roofing options. Because of their shape, tiles are able to facilitate optimal ventilation, keeping the temperature beneath the roof down, which ultimately impacts the temperature inside your home – and your energy costs, too.
• Single-ply Thermoset. A newcomer on the roofing scene, this green option holds multiple benefits: It’s constructed in the factory, offering a higher quality seal and construction, it’s durable, and it comes in white, a color that reflects less heat.
• Single-ply Thermoplastic. Similar to Thermoset, this roof is highly fire retardant and an ideal option for businesses that ventilate oils. Thermoplastic also reflects light, making it a green roofing option.
• Shakes and shingles. While not typically thought of as green, shingles and shakes that are treated with a reflective component will reflect heat, instead of collect it.
• Metal. Metal is gaining ground as an effective roofing option. Light-colored, reflective metal is highly cool, eliminating a lot of the heat transfer that occurs.
• Tar. Not your traditional “tar” material applied to roads, modified bitumen “tar” has a surface that’s reflective, keeping an otherwise hot material very cool.
• Coating. A coating applied to any type of roof helps reflect solar energy. The coating is typically a light color, such as white, that can bring down the air temperature around it by 1 degree.
• Living. Perhaps the “original” green roof, strategically selected plants and grasses installed on the roof helps facilitate optimal ventilation, deals effectively with moisture and keeps the surface cool.

Around your home, you can “green” its exterior even further by choosing energy-efficient windows and replacing old siding. It’s not just your roof that can lose energy. You can lose energy through the walls if the siding is no longer effective, and through the windows, too. Talk to the experts at Findlay Roofing about green roofing options that will work for your home. Investing in environmentally friendly solutions that bring a lasting return over the lifetime just makes sense.

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