Today’s blog post provides an overview of commercial roof coatings and their use with spray polyurethane foam insulation applications. Before we discuss this, it is important to review the value of commercial-grade coatings in making long-term energy savings a reality.
Commercial Roof Coatings and Their Value
Today, commercial roof coatings are widely known for two properties: their energy efficiency and their roofing protection value. When applied on a roof substrate, the roof coating forms a new, seamless membrane over the old roof, shielding it from outdoor conditions and extreme weather patterns over time. Many commercial roof coatings leave behind a reflective roof surface with light coloring when they are sprayed and rolled on top of an old roof. However, one of the most popular coating options is the white roof coating, due to its stronger reflectance value over other coating products.
Because it is highly reflective, the white roof bounces the majority of the sun’s energy off the building during the day and keeps heat from traveling into the body of the building below. The end result is the building does not use as much energy to keep cool, and the building owner can see tremendous energy savings as a result.
Criticism against Reflectivity of White Roof Coatings
In recent years, some have criticized white roof coatings and their value in generating long-term energy savings. In northern climates, where weather patterns tend to be more extreme and oriented toward extreme below-freezing temperature variants, people have claimed roof coatings are not effective. In colder periods of the year, these coating products reflect away sunlight that could heat up a building and help keep the building’s energy costs down. So, in laymen’s terms, the building’s heating system performs harder to keep the interior space heated, and heating costs go up.
These detractors then have claimed the increased heating costs are greater than the cooling cost savings generated by the white roof coatings in the hotter periods of the year. Thus, a building owner is stuck with what is not net energy savings for the year, but rather a net loss. Throw into the mix the reality that roof coatings do not guard against air filtration, a bigger problem than the lack of absorbed heat, and the net loss becomes even more pronounced.
Don’t Forget about the Insulating Power of Spray Polyurethane Foam
Dissidents against white roof coatings do not account for when spray polyurethane foam is applied as an insulating force underneath roof coatings. When installed under commercial roof coatings, a spray polyurethane foam insulation system acts as a strong air barrier. It then heavily cuts down on air filtration and keeps heat trapped inside a building. In short, with the roof coatings applied on top, the SPF insulation system enables a building owner to enjoy cooling cost savings during hotter periods of the year and heating cost savings during the colder portions.
Commercial Spray Polyurethane Foam Roofing Systems
Roofing Services
Our professional commercial roof contractors provide:
- Roof maintenance & repair
- Inspections & leak detection
- Energy efficient roof systems
- Complete roof replacement
- Roof life-extending solutions
- According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, domestic demand for energy will reach jump 40 percent by 2025.
- The U.S. Department of the Interior’s projection for increased energy demand corresponds with more short-term projections by leading organizations for growth in green construction.
- The Freedonia Group anticipates domestic demand for green building products will increase 11 percent per year and reach $86.6 billion in 2017.
- The ENERGY STAR® program confirms this is a continuing trend from earlier years, as the percentage of green construction in the overall U.S. nonresidential construction market grew from 2 percent in 2005 to 44 percent in 2012.
With such a big premium being placed on green construction, there is a great opportunity for building owners to make their buildings more eco-friendly and save money. Commercial roof coating systems, amplified in performance by underlying SPF insulation systems, can help reduce a building’s carbon footprint while generating potentially tens of thousands of dollars in utility costs. With a Conklin spray polyurethane foam roof system, the opportunities for saving money are very much real.
Why Conklin Roofing Systems?
Aside from having excellent reviews, Conklin roof products have a great reputation for lasting performance value. Here are a few reasons why:
- Installed on over 2 billion square feet of roofing in the United States
- Leading product brand for commercial roofing for 40+ years
- Roof coating products with an exceptional lifecycle of 15-25 years or more
- Non-prorated warranty coverage on labor and materials for up to 18 years
- Products that reflect up to 85 percent of the sun’s harmful UV rays, a primary cause of roofing problems
- Warranty claims rate of less than 0.5 percent
- Best-in-class waterproofing solutions
- Fully adhered roofing without any seams
- Wipes away leaks and other common roof problems almost instantly
So, the benefits of a Conklin roof system are tremendous. With a Conklin SPF roof system, though, the benefits become even more numerous. Here are just a few:
- Strongly reduced air filtration, especially during winter
- Noticeable year-round energy savings
- Easily takes care of any old roof substrate problems
- SPF system with a strong R-6.5 value per square inch of thickness
- Applicable to virtually all roof systems
- Complete resistance against hurricane-force winds
- No water absorbed due to spray foam’s closed-cell insulation features
Should you be interested in learning more about why our Conklin SPF systems stand out, give us a call at 800-670-5583. We will be happy to share why our Choice Roof Contractors stand out.
