Green Roofs and AC: Using Green Technology on Roofs

If you own a commercial space, then you most likely have a lot of area that you need to keep cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Paying to purchase and operate the equipment required to modulate the temperature of your commercial space can be an expensive undertaking. Thus, you should look into what you can do to prevent your space from heating up during the summer and help it stay warm during the winter. Installing a free roof can help:

Defining the Term "Green Roof"

People attach the word green to all kinds of technology simply to suggest that the technology thus labeled is good for the environment in some way. Thus, you might think that a green roof is simply a roof that helps to reduce carbon emissions. In the case of a green roof, it gets its name from the fact that it is made up of living plants.

The Cooling Effect of a Green Roof

Green roofs help to keep a building cool in a couple of ways. For one, the planting medium that the roof grows in provides a layer of insulation on top of whatever insulation is used inside of the building. For another, the plants themselves absorb most of the sun's energy for use in the process of photosynthesis. Thus, a green roof can virtually eliminate heat gain through the roof, greatly reducing the load on the AC system. In fact, a green roof can cut cooling costs by up to 40%.

The Heating Benefits of a Green Roof

Some roofing materials that can be used to keep a building cool can actually make it harder to keep a building warm during the winter. For example, if you use a reflective roof coating, it can help to reflect the sun's energy away from your home, but this means that it is reflecting the sun's energy away during the winter when a little heat gain would be a good thing. While a green roof does not increase heat gain during the winter, it does provide an extra layer of insulation which will help to prevent heat loss. Thus, at worst, a green roof will not make it harder to keep your building warm during the winter, and at best, it will help to trap heat inside your building and thus provide some relief to your heating system. 

If you are looking for a cost-effective way to help condition your commercial space, then you should at least consider a green roof. Talk to a roofing contractor to see if a green roof could be right for you. You might contact a company like Day's Appliance Repair Heatg & Air Condtng Co. if you have other questions or concerns.

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