Environmentally Friendly Roofing: Exploring Your Options
Are you concerned about how your choices impact the environment? Are you looking for ways to live a more environmentally friendly life and reduce your carbon footprint? If so, considering the installation of an eco-friendly roof on your home or business is a great step towards accomplishing these goals. Below you can learn more about some of the most environmentally friendly options the roofing market has to offer.
Rubber Roofing
Rubber roofing, also known as EPDM roofing, is a great option for both residential and commercial properties. This style of roofing is well known for being eco-friendly thanks to the fact that it contains such a high percentage of recycled materials. The fact that rubber roofs last on average between 40-50 years also adds to their environmentally friendly nature. This is because the impressive longevity that they offer helps to minimize the amount of roofing materials that ultimately end up in landfills. While rubber roofing is quite an impressive and beneficial roofing option in its own right, this roofing material is also used as a base material for a few of the other eco-friendly options you will discover below.
Solar Roofing
Solar roofing is one example of an environmentally friendly roofing option that typically makes use of rubber material as a base. While you can choose to install solar panels on your roof along with other base materials such as traditional asphalt shingles, the use of petroleum-based materials will have a negative impact on how eco-friendly your new roof truly is. Perhaps the best part of choosing solar roofing is that not only can you help to save the environment by using this style of roofing, but you can also help to save yourself some cold hard cash by harnessing the power of the sun to supply energy to your home rather than paying a large electric bill each month.
Metal Roofing
When considering environmentally friendly roofing options, metal roofing is often overlooked. However, these roofing materials do offer some rather eco-friendly features. For instance, metal roofs will typically last longer than just about any other style of roofing. There are also many metal roofing shingles that are made using recycled materials. However, not all metal roofing shingles are manufactured with recycled materials. As such, if going green is important to you make sure to share this desire with your roofing contractor when selecting what roofing materials will be installed on your home or business.
Green Roofing
Green roofs, also known as living roofs, are another style of environmentally friendly roofing that makes use of rubber roofing as a base material. These roofs are truly unique because they make use of live plants to cover your roof's surface. Not only does this help to provide your home with insulation, but it will also help to improve the air quality surrounding your home. Best of all, despite the use of live plants, this style of roofing is actually very low maintenance.
For more information, contact a roofing company.