New research on roof albedo, insulation and energy efficiency
Since its founding almost 20 years ago, the EPDM Roofing Association (ERA) has been committed to providing science-based information about our products and their optimum use. Given the ongoing efforts to lessen the impact of operational carbon through increased energy efficiency, ERA instituted a portfolio of research projects four years ago to investigate the role of commercial roof systems in those efforts. The third project focused on energy efficiency and answered the question of whether roof color or insulation had a more significant impact on the energy efficiency of a building. ERA members manufacture both reflective and nonreflective membranes, and we owe it to our customers to recommend the most effective use of our products to improve the energy efficiency of a building.
To conduct our research, ERA contracted with ICF, an independent consulting firm with experience in environmental issues, data analysis, and building science to review and contribute to the research and analysis of the impact of insulation and roof color on energy efficiency. The study concluded that while “cool roofs” are widely seen as accepted strategies for mitigating the impacts of urban heat islands and reducing energy use, insulation levels are equally as or more effective than “cool roofs” in achieving energy-saving goals. When installed with traditional insulation levels, cool roofs tend to provide only a marginal or slight reduction in energy use across all modeled climate zones. These findings applied to most commercial building types with low-sloped roofs and insulation installed entirely above the deck.
An overview of the research project may be seen in the pdf links below.