by Roofer911.com |
Ballasted roofing systems are designed to reduce the energy costs for homeowners and businesses. Energy efficient roofs and ballasted roofs use technology developed to reduce the heating and damaging UV effects of the sun. Whereas energy efficient roof use reflective roofing materials, ballasted roofs use stones to meet the criteria of cool roof technology.
A cool roof has high solar reflectivity as well as high thermal emittance. In layman’s terms, that means that the roofing membrane reflects a high percentage of the sun’s rays rather than absorbs it and that which gets absorbed is easily released or radiates back out from the roofing material. Less roof repair is required. Ballast systems are typically comprised of three EPDM membranes with 10 pounds of river rock per square foot. EPDM stands for ethylene propylene dieneterpolymer, a single-ply rubber waterproof roofing membrane.
Studies show that this type of ballast system not only performs to cool roof standards in some instances it is even better with greater longevity. It is the sheer mass of the system that proves to be so effective. It shields the roof and building, guarding it from the damaging effects of solar radiation. This shield lowers the peak temperatures. The ballasted system also slows down any potential thermal effect from flowing into buildings. This allows the building’s cooling system to load balance to off-peak hours of the day. The combined mass of the rocks is a perfect example of the physics principle that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, making ballasted roofing systems so effective.
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