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More and more commercial and residential property owners are looking to make their properties more eco-friendly. Not only is it better for the environment but making your home eco-friendly can also earn government tax credits and breaks on homeowners insurance. If you're interested in making your property eco-friendly, you may wish to consider starting at the top, with an Eco Roof.
At its core, an Eco Roof uses the sun as a source of energy. The three major roof types that serve this purpose are cool roofs, solar roofs, and garden roofs.
Cool Roofs
A cool roof is made out of substances specifically designed to reflect the sun's rays. This not only keeps the building cooler, it also helps mitigate the "Urban Heat Island" effect, a situation in which dense urban areas have higher ambient temperatures. Studies have shown that an urban area composed entirely of cool roof buildings reduces energy use and even results in an improvement in air quality.
Garden Roofs
A garden roof is simply a property with a garden on the roof of the building. The plants in the garden benefit from the sun's rays to grow and flourish. In addition to being attractive, this setup serves much the same purpose as the cool roof - absorbing the sun's rays to reduce the "Urban Heat Island" effect and lower air pollution and energy costs. Another added bonus is that plants absorb CO2 and produce oxygen, resulting in even cleaner air.
Solar Roofs
Many property owners who are interested in becoming more energy conscious are looking into adding a solar array of some kind in order to take advantage of the sun's rays through Solar PV (photovoltaic), a system in which solar energy is absorbed and converted to electricity. With a solar roof, no additions are needed - the entire roof is a photovoltaic solar array. This will result in tremendous savings on conventional electricity, and you can even get credit for feeding excess power into the local power grid. Solar roofs are not only great energy savers but are practical and durable as well. Solar roofs both protect the building from the elements and draw power from them. They really are the wave of the future.
Eco Roofs: The Wave of the Future
If you are constructing a new building for your business or as a residential property, you should definitely consider topping it off with one of the above types of Eco Roofs. If you're looking to improve your old building, an Eco Roof may still be the answer. While there certainly are costs involved, remember that they may be offset by insurance breaks and tax credits. Also remember that if these roofs are installed correctly, they will be durable and reliable, and this combined with the energy savings could mean that your eco-friendly roof actually pays for itself in the long run. |
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