Cool Roof

One of the problems of living on the top floor is that these turn out to be very hot during the summer season due to the high temperatures and the excessive sunshine.

This is a very heartfelt matter you are trying to give an answer to. One possible solution to this problem is a new technology that takes the name of cool roof or cold roof.

A common practice is to use white walls and roofs, this because white is a color that reflects solar radiation and consequently reduces the rate of heat absorbed by building shell.

Just paying attention to this simple aspect of the architecture was founded the technology of cool roof system, which has as its objective the reduction of the temperature and the heat inside the building doing some tricks on its surface coverage.

Issues related to overheating of the surface coverage

We have said that because of high temperature and the excessive radiation we have the phenomenon of overheating of the surface coverage, which can even reach temperatures around 90°. Consequently, these surfacec release in the air the heat absorbed. This issue occurs both during the day and during the night, resulting in an inevitable increase in the air temperature of 4-5° above the actual temperature and a consequent deterioration in the quality of the same due to the increase of the concentration of pollutants.

From the domestic point of view, this overheating of the surfaces of coverage, results in an increase of energy consumption, related to the conditioning of the environment during the summer season, in order to ensure the required living comfort.

What is a cool roof and what are its advantages

The cool roof is nothing more than a cover system capable of reflecting the radiation from the sun light up to 75-80%, maintaining in this way fresh surfaces exposed to the sun.

Therefore, these surfaces will have a high capacity of reflection of solar radiation, a high thermal emissivity, this with regard to the thermal aspect. From the technological point of view instead it will have a high durability; they are white in order to allow the reflection of solar radiation, they will have a very low tendency to color variations following deposits and dirt.

By acting in this way, or by adopting these membranes white cool roof, the temperature of the cover surfaces passes from 80-90° as well as said previously, to 45°.

This external protection system to lower the temperature in the environment in the vicinity of the soffit of about 4-5°, improving comfort conditions during the summer season and making a substantial reduction in air conditioning costs.

Among the many benefits that can be found in a cool roof cover type, we can see the positive implications on the performance of potential systems in photovoltaic panels installed on the roof.

The cool roof system can be used on any surface and is obtained by applying to the surface of the roof in question a layer of exterior surface coating, very similar to a non-metallic diaphragm, which counts among its features to have a very light color, usually white.

This non-metallic membrane that must be applied on the surface of the roof is usually a varnish, a sheath, or a membrane made of plastic material.

This coating, however, can also be realized as a sort of plaster or cement-based type.

So the choices are varied, each characterized by different values of solar radiation reflection and thermal emissivity, of course, the choice of several possible solutions to be adopted will be mainly related to environmental conditions of the site where we should install the cool roof.

It 's strange to think how a so simple system, that goes back to the basic principles of architecture, manages to get all of these benefits that aim to attain comfort within the home.

In fact, lowering cover surface temperatures and reducing the heat that enters the building, ensures more comfort for people who live there allowing considerable savings on energy bills.