FOUR ECO-FRIENDLY ROOFING SOLUTIONS FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLY BUILT HOME
The typical inquiries clients make before hiring you to repair or upgrade their roof are well known to everyone in the industry. The entire building industry follows the same rules. People are curious about the pricing, timeline, and quality guarantees you can offer for a certain work.
The typical inquiries clients make before hiring you to repair or upgrade their roof are well known to everyone in the industry. The entire building industry follows the same rules. People are curious about the pricing, timeline, and quality guarantees you can offer for a certain work.
Roofs are directly involved in the effort to make dwellings greener. The new building requirements that will be implemented in 2022 will include stricter insulation regulations. This is viewed as a crucial first step toward the Future Dwellings Standard 2025, which calls for a radical improvement in energy efficiency and a decrease of 75% to 80% in carbon emissions from new homes.
Any home's sustainability is significantly improved with insulation. However, it's not the only way a roof can be beneficial. Here are four excellent environmentally friendly roofing choices that can help any home become even greener.
PORTABLE GREEN ROOF
The name pretty much says it all. Green roof modules have to rank as the most environmentally friendly roofing material out there.
The concept of a green roof is to cover a building's top with a verdant, living landscape. Although it may seem innovative, people have been creating homes with live turf roofs for a very long time.
The contemporary variation consists of covering a roof with modular turf trays. Green roofs not only offer good insulation but also other advantages like regulating rain runoff and helping to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Additionally, they foster habitats in which organisms like plants, insects, and microorganisms may flourish, and in cities in particular, they help create a manmade environment that seems more natural.
RECYCLED SHINGLES
The bitumen-soaked fibres used to make roofing shingles or felt have historically been notoriously challenging to dispose of safely and responsibly. Manufacturers have recently begun to innovate new techniques for recycling the material, for instance by reusing old shingles that have been ground into a fine powder.
The development of recycled bitumen shingles is a significant advancement in environmentally friendly roofing materials because it lessens dependency on new bitumen derived from oil. Popular with roofers because to its strong water resistance.
NATURAL SHINGLES
While recycled bituminous felt is a relatively new addition to the roofing industry, more environmentally friendly substitutes composed of natural materials have long been accessible. The longest-lasting material is cedar wood, which has a lifespan of up to 50 years because of its exceptional built-in water resistance. When efficient forest management ensures that every tree harvested is replaced, cedar is 100% renewable, just like all other types of wood.
Rubber may be toughened to create a useful and durable material for roof shingles, making it another natural, renewable resource.
RECYCLED RESOURCES
Roofs are constantly being removed and replaced. This indicates that there are a lot of discarded roofing materials lying about. Speaking with a customer about the prospect of looking around for salvaged materials is always worthwhile rather than purchasing fresh materials for each task. This goes for tiles, slates, bonnets, trimmings, and even roofing lumber.
Pre-used materials are always meticulously sorted so you can be sure that the quality is not sacrificed. For instance, traditionally produced tiles typically have a high level of quality and durability. The slightly "weathered" appearance of antique materials can also be pleasant from a homeowner's perspective.
Just a quick note on the debate between slate and tiles and how it relates to sustainability. Slate is allegedly more environmentally friendly than tiles in some situations. If you're only concerned with carbon footprint, it may technically be the case because making tiles requires kilning them at extremely high temperatures, which consumes a lot of energy.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Slate is a "natural," but that doesn't mean it's renewable, so it's crucial to keep that in mind. Slate, on the other hand, is a limited resource, and the damage to the environment caused by its quarrying is one of its main downsides. However, there is a sizable supply of previously used roofing slate that is definitely a sustainable choice.