Where your roof is concerned, prevention is the best cure.
With environmental issues top of everyone’s agenda, it’s impossible to not to become involved and do your bit to help save the planet.
Your roof is no exception and with careful forethought, it is possible to ensure your roof is as environmentally friendly as possible.
Go Green with a Natural Green Roof System
Having vegetation on your roof is a great method of helping the environment by helping to reduce carbon dioxide output, and it also has good insulating properties while supporting wildlife.
Roof gardens are often seen on high rises in cities, and some eco-designed buildings have been designed with a green roof. But is it a possibility to add more greenery to your existing roof?
Green roofs need extra support so existing roofs would have to be modified, which has a cost involved as well as a greater weight on the roof. Although they offer good drainage they do need more maintenance, but overall these cons are outweighed by the environmental benefits.
Using Recycled Slate or Roof Tiles
Instead of buying new, consider recycled slates for your roof. These are salvaged from old roofs or when houses are demolished and are selected for their quality – so no need to worry that they won’t do the job of protecting your home. By using recycled materials, you will be minimising manufacturing and the environmental issues associated with the process.
Solar Roof Tiles
Solar tiles are roof tiles with solar properties built-in, which negates the need for adding solar panels to an existing roof. They are not the cheapest roofing material and they do need a specialist support system underneath. On the plus side though, your whole roof will generate electricity from the sun without emitting any harmful substances and there is no need for additional roofing tiles underneath or bulky solar panels on top.
Cool It Off
Here in the UK, we don’t tend to have extensive hot periods and therefore are not consuming electricity through air conditioners. However, office spaces and restaurants often rely on these through the summer, as to do properties in hotter parts of the world. Cool roofs could help keep the air-con bills down, by reflecting the sun.
The good news is that the developers have also considered countries that have hot and cold conditions and have developed a roof tile called Thermeleon that changes colour depending on the weather – white when it’s hot and black when it’s cold.
Light Pipes
Considering your roof is the nearest part of your property to the sun, it is a very dark place. However, light pipes can tap into the sunlight up above and transform it into a natural light source for your home. Light pipes channel sunlight from plastic half-spheres on the roof down through reflective pipes. This reflection creates enough light to turn off your internal lighting, saving on electricity.
Tap into the Wind
Most people are aware of solar panels on roofs, but how many are tapping into the power of the wind? There are now available turbines small enough to be mounted on your roof. Their efficiency depends upon the openness of the area and the typical wind conditions, but the ability to create energy when the weather is bad make them the ideal companion to solar panels.
So, next time you think about your roof, starting viewing it in terms of its environmental impact. It’s amazing how your roof could help reduce climate change!
If you need some advice, or to arrange a free, no obligation site visit please get in touch with our expert team today.