Developing Roof Systems That Prevent Energy Loss

Roofing Magazine

March 26, 2019

Louisa Hart

A fully-adhered membrane will prevent fluttering and minimize energy loss. Photos: Hutchinson Design Group
Several millennia ago, early man — and the wife and kids — decided that life in a cave was a little dark, damp and confining, and started thinking about a better place to live. This led, eventually, to the need for a roof. Sod was the obvious first choice for a roofing material — abundant supply, close at hand, pretty simple to install, providing good insulation — but not very waterproof and very prone to catching fire in dry weather. Whether that caveman knew he had installed the first “green roof” is unknown.

Fast-forward to the multiple choices that we now have to shelter ourselves and the structures where we work, learn, shop and perform hundreds of other activities. In some ways, the challenges are the same as they were thousands of years ago: keep the occupants dry and comfortable and protect the systems in the building, although those systems are vastly more complex than they were for our ancestor emerging from his cave. A few other things have changed, as well, including the cost of energy for heating, cooling and running building systems. The challenge today is still to keep a building and its occupants protected from the outside elements. But an equally important challenge, given rising energy costs, is to keep energy expenses from literally going through the roof.