More new-home buyers are becoming interested in making sure their roofing material not only protects their house but also causes the least harm possible to the environment. More than half of architects in a recent American Institute of Architects survey reported increased demand for sustainable roofing products in 2007. That includes everything from "green roofs" with living plants to traditional roofing materials made with recycled content.
In Dallas, at least 95 percent of roofs have composition shingles, area builders estimate. These are an asphalt-fiberglass combination, something the eco-friendly building movement typically avoids because of the product's reliance on petroleum. But buyers can take several steps to increase the sustainability of composition shingles. The key is better durability.
Most new homes come with a roof rated to last 20 years, but buyers should ask for one rated to last 40 to 50 years, said environmental building consultant David Johnston, co-author of the book Green Remodeling. Buyers should also look for shingles rated Class 4, which means they are hail-resistant, said Chris Miles, a principal at GreenCraft builders in Lewisville.
Typical composition-shingle roofs can be heavily damaged in a hailstorm, and sometimes more than 2,000 homes have to be reroofed after a heavy storm in the Dallas area, Mr. Miles said. Class 4 shingles cost at least 15 percent more than standard ones, but he's seen some insurance companies drop their rates to offset the upgrade. "Sustainable means they don't have to tear it off and put another roof on there and continue to fill up the landfill," Mr. Miles said.
Mr. Johnston suggests another way to increase sustainability: Choose products such as standing seam metal panels (seams are raised somewhat so fasteners can be underneath and protected). Standing seam metal roofs are fire- and hail-resistant and generally durable enough to last more than 100 years. They can also be moved or recycled.
Several large homebuilders, including KB Home, offer standing seam metal as an optional roof trim. But most homes with full metal or slate roofs cost more than $800,000, said Don Barrineau, Dallas division president of KB Home. That's largely because the material costs about twice as much as composition shingles.
Recycled content is also gaining ground in roofing materials. One company offers composition shingles of recycled fiberglass and asphalt; others even make aluminum roofs from old computer parts, or turn recycled garden hoses into rubber roofs that look like cedar shingles, Mr. Johnston said. But the products are expensive because demand is relatively small. Most buyers decide what roofing to use based on price, said Dan Fette, chairman of the Green Built North Texas Council, part of the Home Builders Association of Greater Dallas.
Composition shingles "are the roof of choice because they are perceived to be the most cost-effective material," he said, although buyers who select more sustainable options are always looking for a potential payback in the long run, he said.
Source: DallasNews.com