My first inclination is to bypass my normally curious self and just replace the wood shakes with...more wood shakes. But, I can't miss this opportunity to explore some green options now can I?
So I start some research...and then some more research, and then add some contractors, more research and then I go into brain lock. That's where I am right now.
Here is my criteria before green issues come into play.
- It must fit into the supplied insurance money budget
- It must look good to us, fit the house and neighborhood. (Aesthetics.)
- It must add value to the home.
- It must be durable and relatively maintenance free.
Now the green issues -
- It needs to help with house cooling. (include radiant barrier or reflect more of the energy or both)
- It should be more reflective to mitigate heat island effect (lighter color)
- It should come from a renewable resource
- It should last so we don't fill up the landfill again soon
Then there is the issue of my future solar panels. The opportunity to integrate solar with the roof change sure seemed to make sense but...
Bottom Line - Once you have achieved your 30% reductions through all the simple stuff, you get the the not so simple stuff. If you live in a city where the green contractors are few and far between you really have trouble getting something done right and green.
The easy decision, going back with shakes, means less durability, high maintenance, they don't add value, provide nothing green, and PV panels are going to look really out of place up there someday.
The hard decision, standing seam metal roof, is difficult because we're not sure about the aesthetics which is number two on the list. It's a good reflector, lasts forever, it's very low maintenance, adds value, and we can add radiant barrier cheap.
I refuse to sacrifice aesthetics for green. And I almost refuse to sacrifice green for aesthetics. I need a win-win here...
That's a really interesting topic. I had to replace my roof in a hurry a year or so ago (shingles had, unbeknownst to me, been ripping in large numbers off the high side which isn't visible from the ground unless you're several house lengths away out on a neighbor's dock), so I didn't have much time to figure this out.
ReplyDeleteI was limited to basically one shingle type that was simultaneously in my budget and met the 115(?) mph wind rating my town requires.
The place I wimped out was that I knew very light roofs are better for the environment and air conditioning bills (not sure of the trade off about winter heating), but the only option in that line was, well, white, which would have been hideous. I did at least go with a medium color instead of very dark.
I still wish I had had more time to research this.
As to solar panel considerations, my roof is east-west, aghh. But at least the garage is north-south, so maybe at some point.
Meanwhile, the NYTimes has an article on going without air conditioning at
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/garden/23air.html
although I notice one house is surrounded byhigh trees, which I know helps.
Its funny that you post that...my AC went out last night. We ate dinner with familiy under the oak tree and slept with the door open and two fans running. It was 80 in the house this morning!
ReplyDeleteSo I buy into the idea it makes you go outside etc.
As for the roof, they are starting to come out with new pigments that have ceramic in them so you can get darker colors that still have the reflectivity and emissivity one wants to make the Energy star rating...
Dr. Chu has just advocated we do things like white roofs if we are changing it anyway...
I have seena few houses with very light roofs...it's definately an acquired taste.