Urban Heat Islands: Cool Roofs Bring Relief

A painted metal roof not only reflects heat in summer, but also retains heat inside the building on cool days, saving on heating costs and keeping the indoor environment healthy and comfortable in both summer and winter.

An "urban heat island" happens when urban concrete and asphalt construction absorbs heat during the day then radiates it back at night so that temperatures don't fall at night as they normally would, and is a powerful contributor to climate change and global warming. Plus, metal building roofs don't store heat and radiate it back at night like other types of roofs. Savvy builders are taking advantage of the fact that metal building roofs reflect light and heat keeping buildings cooler in hot weather.

In places like California, Texas and Florida, commercial building construction is taking advantage of the "cool" properties of steel building metal roofs for commercial buildings such as warehouses, industrial manufacturing plants, aircraft hangars, storage buildings, retail outlet stores, auto dealerships, strip malls and more. This saves energy in cooling costs and helps save the environment by lessening the urban "heat island" effect. New metal building roofs qualify for Federal tax credits. Metal building roofs also work to save energy and the environment in cooler climates.