Best Roofing Materials for the Environment

Roofs are critical structures that cover and protect a house. There are several different materials that roofs have been made out of over the years including wood, asphalt, metal, and tile. Each roofing material has different advantages and disadvantages, and some are better than others for the environment.

Metal Roofing

Metal roofing has many environmental advantages. First of all, it is a recyclable material; it won't sit for centuries in a landfill never degrading. It is also environmentally friendly because it reduces waste. Many times, metal roofs can be installed on top of an existing roof. This erases the hassle of tearing off the new roof and spares the environment the waste.

Metal roofs are naturally safer for the environment when it rains. Some roofs have chemicals and contaminants that will run off the roof and pollute the ground when it rains. Metal is free of chemicals and the rain that slides off the roof is cleaner as a result.

Metal roofs are good insulators when installed properly. This insulation can help keep the house warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, reducing energy costs. The less energy used heating and cooling, the better for the environment.

Foam Roofing

Certain types of foam roofing can also have environmental benefits. Newer foams are made without chemicals that could be harmful to the ozone layer.

Foam roofing causes much less waste when compared to asphalt roofing. This type of roofing also lasts a long time and doesn't have the dangerous asphalt chemicals or odors.

Wood Roofing

Wood roofing has obvious environmental benefits because it is truly a renewable roofing choice. The wood used is natural and won't harm the environment. The processes of manufacturing the wood roofs use much less energy than other manufacturing processes and as a result produce much lower amounts of greenhouse gases.

Wood roofing is also very good at insulating a house and keeping the environmental cost of heating and cooling down.

When searching for a roofing choice that has environmental benefits, metal, foam, and wood roofing all have their own advantages, but metal is perhaps the best choice.