Metal Roofing and Green Building

Did you know that metal plays a quintessential role in green building and sustainable design. Metal is a sustainable building material that stands up to the elements in the harshest of climates and even in marine and salty water environments. Metal is a fully recyclable building material often containing 30% and greater post consumer content. Metal roofs, walls, and construction materials can be reused again at the end of it service life, when recycled. Metal is 100% recyclable at the end of its useful life.

In the United States, metal is gaining popularity as a green building material for new construction and retrofit applications. Some examples of use of metal in the United States include metal buildings, metal walls and metal cladding, metal roofing, and metal framing. Despite the growing popularity of metal in the United States, it still has long way to go.

In Europe, metal has been used for centuries and has gained undisputed acceptance as a durable, energy efficient, and long lasting building material. For instance, over 70% of all residential buildings in Europe are covered with zinc roofing. Europeans have long realized that metal such as zinc can easily last as long as 100 years providing a durable and reliable protection for the roofs. This could be the reason why over 80% of all buildingss in Paris are still covered with zinc roofing.

Some would argue that zinc is too expensive to use and residential and commercial construction. But this is only one way of looking at things, the truth is that if you consider the cost of zinc over its life cycle, it turns out that it's one of the cheapest building materials. Factor in that zinc requires very little energy to produce, and that zinc is 100% recyclable at the end of its service life.

In the United States, the roofing industry is still predominantly producing asphalt shingles, which cannot be recycled and inevitably ends up in our landfills. Yes, asphalt shingles may be cheap, but it doesn't last very long. The industry average expected lifespan for an asphalt shingle roof is just 17 years. In hotter climates such as Florida, asphalt shingle roofs can fail as early as in 10 years.

In the age of environmental awareness, building sustainably will result in buildings that last significantly longer and are good for the environment and the people. Integrating the metal into the construction of the building envelope and roofs can provide tremendous energy savings, cost of maintenance and repair savings, and result in an overall greener and more energy efficient building.

Granted, not every homeowner can afford the expense of initial investment in the roof such as zinc or copper, but there are less expensive alternatives; steel and aluminum roofing. Modern steel roofing is coated with a layer of zinc and aluminum, in which protects it from oxidation and elements. Further, steel roofing profiles are protected with high quality Kynar 500 paint, which reflects solar radiant heat and provides significant energy savings. The beauty of metal roofing is that it can last 50 years and longer requiring no roof replacements or expensive roof maintenance. Metal roof also retains its value and helps home owners save money on cooling costs.

The pros of metal roofing surpass the higher cost of initial investment, and metal roof pays for itself over time. It's good for your pocket and the environment. Although, it may not be so good for the asphalt shingle roofing manufacturers, but the things have to change if we want to make our planet greener.