Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs » CODES, ORGANIZATIONS, RESEARCH, ETC.

Question: Is one of the goals of the CMRC to promote a self certified /self-policing CMRC approved product to be included in regulatory statutes as opposed to the CRRC program? (i.e., lower cost to producers?)

Answer:

Yes. These vary by jurisdiction. The proposed Federal Government’s Energy Bill of 2002 contains tax credits for homeowners who install reflective metal roofing on new or renovated homes. Unfortunately, the bill has not yet passed in Congress. Incentives in mortgages are often tied to cool roofing, due to the energy cost savings over time. Utility incentives are available in local jurisdictions. Cool Community programs offer many building owners tax or energy credits for adopting cool roofing construction practices. There have been several cool roof rebate programs throughout the country, most notably in California, that offered building owners and contractors financial incentives for using cool roofing. The State Energy Offices (NASEO) and the Department of Energy could serve as good resources for more incentive information.

Question: With the high TSR (0.70) required by the CEC – Title 24, is there any reason to sign up as a charter member of the Cool Roof Rating Council if you don’t have a painted product that meets 0.70?

Answer:

Participation as a Charter Member in the Cool Roof Rating Council could provide an opportunity to influence its mandated criteria. As stated in the CRRC information, although you must be a CRRC licensed seller or manufacturer, you do not have to be a member of CRRC to be able to list a product in the CRRC Product Directory.

Title 24 currently offers credits for cool roof systems that are CRRC labeled. The 2005 version of Title 24 will also link cool roofs to the CRRC labeling program. Roof products will not be mandated to meet 0.70 reflectance, but those that don’t will affect a building’s energy budget and other adjustments will have to be made, such as smaller windows, more insulation, etc in order for a building permit to be issued. The proposed language indicates that a roofing product that is not CRRC labeled, regardless of its reflectance, will by default be considered as having a 0.1 reflectance which will significantly impact the building energy budget and threaten the issuance of a building permit

Question: Are there any tax credits from the government (DOE, Fed, state or local.) or incentives from utilities or any other group to buy and install a "cool" roof?

Answer:

Yes. These vary by jurisdiction. The proposed Federal Government’s Energy Bill of 2002 contains tax credits for homeowners who install reflective metal roofing on new or renovated homes. Unfortunately, the bill has not yet passed in Congress. Incentives in mortgages are often tied to cool roofing, due to the energy cost savings over time. Utility incentives are available in local jurisdictions. Cool Community programs offer many building owners tax or energy credits for adopting cool roofing construction practices. There have been several cool roof rebate programs throughout the country, most notably in California, that offered building owners and contractors financial incentives for using cool roofing. The State Energy Offices (NASEO) and the Department of Energy could serve as good resources for more incentive information.

Question: What is being done with ASTM and similar organizations to better standardize measurement of TSR and emissivity?

Answer:

ASTM has a task force under Committee E06 that develops standards for total solar reflectivity and total emissivity. Two new standards ](E1918 and E1980) are the results of the work of the task group.

Question: Do you see coated metal requiring a note detailing compliance with a "cool roof" standard?

Answer:

The Cool Roof Rating Council and Energy Star programs use a labeling system to indicate compliance with their specifications. However, there are other cool roof programs and standards that may or may not require labeling of the roof product.

Question: In the LBNL studies for a given city, the total savings, going from Low to High reflectance is the product of $/unit x no. of units. ($/ft2 x no. of ft2). What are the $/unit values?

Answer:

Data are available in LBNL-39433, Table EX-2 in $/1000 ft2. Direct savings are:

Location:	Residential	Commercial	Combined
Atlanta	10	11	10
Chicago	8	11	9
Los Angeles	16	30	20
Dallas / Ft Worth	11	13	11
Houston	17	20	18
Miami / Ft Lauderdale	21	19	21
New Orleans	14	26	17
New York	9	21	17
Philadelphia	(-2)	20	4
Phoenix	34	35	34
DC / Baltimore	5	10	5

Question: Do $/unit values correlate to CDD? To other weather data?

Answer:

In the Oak Ridge National Laboratory model for low slope roofs, cooling energy loads and heating energy loads were considered separately. Cooling loads were correlated to a "cooling index", which was the product of the average solar insolation and cooling degree days, divided by a constant to normalize the data. In other words, the amount of cooling energy required is related to both the amount of solar radiation and the number of cooling degree days. However, this relationship between cooling load and cooling index was not linear. Heating loads were correlated to a "heating index", which was the number of heating degree days divided by a constant to normalize the data. The correlation, though not linear, was significant without considering solar insolation in this case. [Petrie, T. W., et. al., "Effect of Solar Radiation Control on Energy Costs " A Radiation Control Fact Sheet for Low-Slope Roofs," Oak Ridge National Laboratory, no date, available on DOE’s Cool Roof Calculator.]

Question: Are complete reports of ORNL studies available?

Answer:

Information on ORNL research programs can be found on their website at www.ornl.gov/roofs+walls