emporiapics 038The Ecological Benefits of Metal Roofing as brought to you by the Metal Construction Association and Global Home Improvement. Metal Roofs have long been known to “last a lifetime” and have been made popular on both historic and contemporary homes. Our metal roofing blog is dedicated to sharing the green benefits of metal roofing, so here it is:

Sustainability

Metal roofing’s durability can virtually eliminate the need to use future raw materials to produce roofing. Metal roofing is unaffected by the hot-cold/wet-dry weather cycles that break down other materials. Other roofing materials, however, are heavily affected by weather extremes. In addition, metal roofing is known for its ability to hold up against other weather forces—including windstorms, hail, ice, and snow.

Recycled Content

Most metal roofs have recycled content ranging from 25% to 50%. This is in stark contrast to conventional roofingshingles, which have much shorter lives and use oil-based products as their primary raw material.

Recyclability

While metal roofing is known for its extremely long life, it does have the added benefit of being 100% recyclable if it is ever removed in the future, perhaps as part of a building renovation.

Low Weight

Depending on the product chosen, metal roofing has a weight that is from 1/3 to as little as 1/8 the weight of conventional roofing shingles!  Each year, about 20 billion pounds of old composition roofing shingles are dumped into U.S. landfills. Metal Roofing is also easily transported to job sites!

Product Safety

Metal roofing and the finishes used on it are inert, safe materials that do not pose a health risk. Furthermore, metal roofing is noncombustible, which provides additional fire protection for homes.

Energy Efficiency

Metal roofing is rapidly gaining acceptance as a very energy-efficient material. Property owners have reported energy savings of as high as 20% and even more after installing metal roofing. Cool coated metal roofing can display solar reflectance of at least 65% and thermal emittance of 80%. This can have a tremendous impact on energy usage by reducing air conditioning costs and the smog and pollution that are