Reed Hitchcock RSI Contributing Columnist

Today the word green is shorthand for "environmentally sound." Yet there are many facets to environmentalism and many "shades" of green. Another newly coined term, greenwashing, describes the unfortunate practice of falsely ascribing environmental benefits to organizations, services, products, or practices.

Because there continues to be wide disagreement as to what may safely be called green, professionals in the building and construction industries might be inclined to avoid the issue altogether, but these times demand more discussion of green and not less. The best course is to guard against irrelevant or unproven claims and base company practices on proven data and sound analysis.

For roofing industry professionals, a long-term goal is the development and use of roof systems that are more energy efficient, last longer, and generate less waste than those used in the past.

Green aspects of roofing

Roofing systems have several green aspects, such as energy efficiency, long life cycles (cradle to grave), and recyclability potential. Energy efficiency relates to the way roofing materials affect the heating of and cooling of buildings, which are also affected by insulation and reflectivity. Material life cycles are important because more durable systems are replaced less frequently than systems with short life cycles, resulting in less disposable waste and lower lifetime costs. Recyclability means materials can be reused indefinitely, beyond one product lifetime, conserving natural and manufactured resources.

Green Reading

Programs, such as the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Energy Star, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) incentives of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and various building and energy codes, including California's Title 24, seek to make buildings more energy efficient. The roofing system is a vital component of a building's thermal envelope and a major contributor to the amount of materials used over the life cycle of a building, so roofing systems deserve more than cursory treatment when evaluating building codes and incentive programs. Otherwise, incentive programs and building codes might inadvertently encourage practices that could amount to greenwashing.

It's the life cycle, silly

In the rush to be green, one of the most overlooked aspects of commercial roofing systems is life cycle. Long before it was cool to be green, long life cycles were considered desirable. This economic motivation is completely in tune with green motivations. A building owner who plans to own or occupy a building for a long time normally desires a roofing system that will last as long as possible. The non-green approach was to meet the immediate needs with a short-term roofing solution.

The roofing industry has been evolving long-lasting roofing systems for many decades. That evolution has resulted in a number of high-quality asphalt built-up roofing (BUR) systems that can last for decades when well maintained. Many sound strategies, including quality installation, preventive maintenance, and roof coatings to extend roof life cycles, were developed in support of the goal of long life cycle.

The materials and energy wasted in tearing off and re-roofing should not be underestimated in developing green policies. Chuck Marvin of Roof Solutions Inc. recommends that incentive programs, such as Energy Star and LEED, reward long life cycles. "A minimum term of 25 years should be required to receive LEED points," Marvin says. "Real standards need to be developed for the performance attributes of roofing systems. Such would encourage manufacturers and installers of all types of roofing systems to continue to seek ways to extend the life cycles of roofing systems. It would inhibit the natural impulse to select a short-life cycle roofing system, which is wasteful in terms of materials, manpower and energy."