Cool Savings with “Cool Roofs” by Mike McConnell

Last year’s energy crisis made many of us think that the State of California should have done something to help us all out. In fact, they had passed assembly bill AB 970 before the crisis hit us in our pocket books. This bill provided funding to reduce peek electrical demand. One of the programs offered was the “COOL ROOF” retrofit program.

This program offers eligible participants a rebate if they apply a “COOL ROOF” system on their buildings. Those who are eligible for incentives are building owners or property managers of commercial, industrial and multi-family dwellings. The buildings must be air-conditioned and have insulation. The rebates range from $.15 to $.20 square foot of roof space.

These rebates do not just apply to those who re-roof. If you have a capsheet or a smooth-surfaced flat roof that is older or needs maintenance, you could possibly qualify. If you are replacing a roof and you use an "Energy Star" approved product, you could qualify.

The products that are mandated are highly reflective 74 % and higher. Capsheet and torch applied membranes are 35-45% reflective or less. The average temperature on a roof surface is 140 degrees. These “COOL ROOF” can reduce that temperature by 30-50 degrees or more. This could save you up to 40% for the electricity required to cool your building. Now that is cool!

We’ve installed and applied three “COOL ROOFS” this year. One was a 15 building homeowners association that was in need of maintenance but not yet needing a roof. If it was left in the same condition as when we arrived it would have needed a new roof within the next two years. The replacement cost would have been $210,000.00. The roof was coated with a “COOL ROOF” product for $75,000.00 adding another ten years to the roof’s life. The building owners received a $10,215.00 rebate from the State of California for maintenance that they needed to do anyway. We re-coated a grocery store that already had a roof coating on it that needed to be redone as part of the building maintenance. They received a $4,875.00 rebate for $26,054.00 contract. The last project we did was a four story mid-rise building that had a black flat roof that needed to be replaced. The product chosen happened to be “Energy Star” approved and qualified for this program. Not only will they get a rebate of $4,500.00, but they will also reduce the interior temperature of the units on the top floor of the building by 20 degrees and greatly reduce the amount of time the HVAC units run each day. Can you see why they call it “COOL ROOF”?

If you would like to know more about “COOL ROOFS” call us at (858) 581-5177.

Mike McConnell is the principle estimator for A -1 All American Roofing Co., a full service roofing company. A- 1 All American Roofing provides services to building owners and individual homeowners through its residential division. (858) 581-5177 • MMcConnell3@qwest.net

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