If you've recently started trying to live an eco-friendly, low-waste lifestyle, you may feel discouraged to hear that you need a new roof. After all, the materials used for a roof are typically one-use and then the old roofing materials are thrown away. But if you're determined, you can make your new roof fit with your new lifestyle. Here's how.
Choose a Contractor Who Recycles
Did you know that asphalt shingles can actually be recycled? They can't be recycled indefinitely like glass, but they can be reused to make materials for the underlayer of roads. It may not be a totally zero-impact option, but it still lowers the amount of virgin materials that would otherwise be used for that road.
You also want a contractor who will recycle everything possible, from used flashing materials to the packaging that materials come from.
Look for Reclaimed or Repurposed Materials
If you recycle your old roof, you can avoid sending anything to the landfill. But you can also avoid raising demand for new roofing materials by choosing reclaimed materials for your new roof. Reclaimed materials may sound unreliable at first, but in many places you can find companies whose job it is to vet the materials.
These companies can do a great job of making sure the roofing materials are still up for protecting another roof for at least a few more decades. The reclaimed materials may come from buildings that were knocked down, buildings whose roofs got damaged and couldn't be repaired easily because the products were no longer being made, and so on.
Using reclaimed materials helps to support the market so that these businesses can keep selling gently used roofing materials rather than sending them all to the landfill.
Choose a Roof That Improves Your Building Envelope
Did you know that heating and cooling together account for more energy use in American homes than any other purpose? The more you can do to reduce that amount in your home, the better. This typically involves measures such as getting a more efficient cooling system, using passive cooling measures such as shade, and improving your building envelope.
Your building envelope means how well the walls, roof, and floors of your home protect you from the elements; in essence, how airtight, watertight, and heat and cold proof they are. You can improve your building envelope by increasing insulation value, for example by adding more insulation under your roof when you replace it.
You can also improve the building envelope by improving the roof's ventilation, adding a cool roof coating, and choosing a roofing material that will reflect more heat than it lets in. These measures help keep out unwanted heat in the summer and unwanted cold in the winter.
The reason reducing energy use is part of a zero waste lifestyle is because fossil fuels, billions of gallons of water daily, infrastructure upkeep, and greenhouse gases are involved in creating electricity in America. In addition, reducing wear and tear on your AC system can mean it needs fewer repairs, new parts, and replacements.
Replace Roof Material Less Often
Avoiding a roof replacement when your roof is failing isn't a great idea. But you can reduce the frequency of your roof replacements by choosing a roofing material that lasts a long, long time. This goal meshes well with the idea of using reclaimed materials because the materials that are valuable enough to reclaim are typically those that last a long time.
Some examples of commonly reclaimed materials include metal, slate, and tile roofing. Look for materials that are almost new so that they'll last longer. And all other things being equal, try to choose the longest-lasting material. For example, clay tiles last longer than concrete tiles, and harder slate will last longer than softer slate because it's more durable.
These considerations can help you choose, plan, and execute a replacement roof that's much lower-waste than average. For more information about the roofing services we offer, get in touch with Whittle's Roofing Co.
, Inc. today.
