Green practices have come to almost every industry, and roofing is no exception. A Downers Grove, IL roofer such as Showalter Roofing Service offers a number of environmentally-friendly options in its business. They also offer energy-efficient shingles and other products to lower your fuel bills along with your carbon footprint.
Shingle recycling is the most notable green practice available to customers. For an extra fee, the shingles torn off of your roof during a reroofing job will be sent to the recycler instead of the landfill. Then, the asphalt from the shingles will be recovered for use in road making.
New shingles can also be environmentally-friendly. Certainteed, a major shingle maker, has released the Landmark Solaris line. GAF, another big shingle manufacturer, has the Cool Series and Cool Series Energy Savings lines. Both of these shingle lines offer reflective technology that sends a high amount of the sun’s heat back into the sky. Certainteed says that its offering can cool a roof’s temperature by up to 20%.
One thing that should be considered when choosing any “cool” line of shingles is whether it will actually be more environmentally-friendly to be cooler in your area. In Illinois, it is only truly hot for a short time every year. Cool shingles will save you money and electricity during those times, but soon, it’ll be furnace weather again. If you typically have high heating bills, you can save more money by choosing dark, non-reflective shingles that will let the sun’s heat help the furnace out even though such “hot” shingles will cause a couple of months’ worth of higher A/C usage.
As this shows, what counts as environmentally-friendly isn’t so cut-and-dried in the roofing world. Therefore, it’s a better idea to focus on a tried-and-true way of reducing one’s fuel usage and carbon footprint: Insulation. Shingles themselves have some insulative value, but adding a layer of dedicated insulation underneath will do much to keep your home’s internal temperature inside where it belongs. A Downers Grove, IL roofer will have a variety of solutions that will be helpful whether or not you also have attic insulation or other barriers. Browse www.showalterroofing.com to know more.
