Coating systems can deliver a wide range of benefits for building owners willing to consider a pro-active approach to their roofs and sidewalls. Aside from leak protection, the fundamental benefit of asset preservation is first and foremost. Roof replacement is a costly proposition. If the roof can be preserved via a timely, quality minded coating effort, the savings can be substantial. In most instances metal roofs and single-ply membranes can be coated and preserved indefinitely. In fact, the mechanical fastening systems and glues (associated with fully adhered membranes) will likely present a greater design challenge over a 40 or 50 year time span than the preservation of the roofing material itself. Additionally, buildings that draw air from the roof or with rooftop AC units will achieve substantial energy savings when highly reflective white or pastel shades are used over black or conductive metal surfaces.
On roofs with adequate insulation, heat transfer through the building is not often an energy efficiency problem. Under-insulated structures, or roofs subject to extended heat waves can benefit from reflective coatings in that moderation of surface temperatures will improve the efficiency of the existing insulation.
For the most part, energy efficiency is gained via white or highly reflective coatings when HVAC intakes are mounted on the roof. Black membranes like EPDM, modified bitumen or highly conductive metal panels, will absorb and retain substantial amounts of heat. This results in high ambient air temperatures surrounding the air conditioning intakes, which in turn requires AC units to use more energy to cool the super heated air. With a reflective rubber roof coating, the surface temperatures are moderated and the AC will not have to work as hard to deliver the desired cooling benefit. For a better sense of the cost benefit that can be realized when converting dark or conductive roof surfaces, to highly reflective rubber surfaces, the Department of Energy provides a basic roof calculator as a guideline.