Join the MRA | Member Login
Find a Professional
Sign Up Log In Add New Topic

TOPIC: Roofing Styles

Stone coated metal shake "Cool", Energy Star,Title 24

Return to Roofing Styles

Return to Archive

Return to Forum

Need some guidance from someone with excellent product knowledge to find a stone coated metal shake that qualify as a cool roof. There are plenty of stone coated metal shakes although some like Custom-Bilt's, Armor Star are not available in California(why?). The difficulty is getting one that has 25+% reflectivity to qualify as "Cool". Why have a hot roof when for a stroke of the pen you can specify cool? Why wait for Title 24 in April 2009? You can get "Cool" but without the stone coating - just a plain Kynar painted surface.This will obviously be slippery when wet & look too shiny/fake -I need to avoid that! So far the only candidate I have found is a future product(intro date unknown) from Gerard/3m that will meet my spec. Anyone know of a specific ,named alternative?
Tony Davenport

7/13/2007
Have you checked out Decra stone coated steel shingles? I'm looking into them myself but have not yet determined if they qualify as a cool roof...
Guest User

7/16/2007
If you go the the "manufacturers" page of this web site (look in the banner at the top of the page), you will see a chart that lists several MRA members that produce the product you are looking for.
Ken Buchinger
NCI Building Systems, Inc.

7/16/2007
I have checked most of these sites very carefully and all fail to meet at least one of the criteria 1.Stone coated 2.Shake appearance 3. Cool = 25%+ reflectivity Decra meets 1 & 2 but fails on #3. Custom Bilt Titan fails on #1. Most achieve #3 by using light/shiny colors like white or silver.That is unacceptable with many CC&R's. As far as I know Gerard+3M are the only manufacturer with a future product that will meet all 3 criteria.Please correct me if I am wrong. Thanks, Tony
Tony Davenport

7/16/2007
I think I have an answer to my own question but wanted to check with you the EXPERTS! I added a fourth requirement. Self-venting seems a good idea - why incur the cost+time of installing battens and counter-battens on an existing deck if you can get effective ventilation without them? The answer is:Dura-Loc. Buried in their technical specs are all 3 of my original requirements plus a claim of being self ventilating. Until I physically see the panel,I can't be sure.The TSR of their stone-coated "Driftwood" is 36%! Any better ideas?Does Metro have anything?
Tony Davenport

7/16/2007
Dura-Lok is a good company and an MRA member. Metro is an MRA member as well. You can e-mail them and I'm sure they would be happy to provide you with the info you are looking for.
Ken Buchinger
NCI Building Systems, Inc.

7/17/2007
I have some research to share on this issue of the green,cool, metal shake. The info was obscured by the fact no website I studied had 2009 Title 24 compliance data. California Title 24 is a useful shortcut to getting what I (and probably lots of other specifiers ) want- see page 63 of Metal Roofing Aug/Sept 2007. So, I went on a plant tour of one local manufacturer and then visited a distributor - "RAM" (Jon Wilson).He answered all my arcane technical and installation questions,including one I had posed on this Forum that produced no answer. The requirements are: 1.Stone coated 2.Shake appearance 3.Cool roof with 25+% reflectivity 4.Self venting without battens.Yes, NO battens! Number 4 is the problem! Title 24 'requires' a 3/4" vent space between the back of the panel and the roof deck. He had one product that had this feature - "SteelRock" www.steeelrockroof.com -linked below http://tinyurl.com/3b37nn Like many other manufacturers SteelRock are planning to change their rock grades to improve the TSR also. No, the 3/4" vent space is not mentioned on their website but I have a sample in my office and it measures 3/4"! This leaves the questions: 1.Why isn't this being promoted to specifiers now? 2.Why aren't other manufacturers increasing the depth of their ribs to 3/4" or better? "Save the trees!" The ability to meet Title 24 without the expense,penetrations and delay of battens/counterbattens is a valuable $ & green advantage and it costs the manufacturer very little.One die is only $300,000 +_ and these are routinely renewed anyway. I would be very pleased to hear of anything anyone else can add to this subject if you email me: solarshading(at)mindspring.com BTW the underlayment I was thinking of specifying is KoolBlue, linked below http://tinyurl.com/3ykfs3 Thanks to the Forum for your comments.
Guest User

8/10/2007
I should have logged in & cited a source for my interest in the venting issue ,other than the 2009 Title 24 requirement. It is a publication mentioned elsewhere on this site: "The effects of infrared blocking pigments and deck venting on stone- coated metal residential roofs." William Miller January 2006 .Oak Ridge National Laboratory. See the conclusion on page 33 - I paraphrase; stone-coated light gray with battens+counterbatten venting gave a 70% reduction in heat flow penetrating the ceiling.The key is that the manufacturer uses IrBCP's = Infra red blocking color pigments on the granules. On p.17 in the Executive Summary : underside of shakes is bare metal(actually it was galvalume coated?) & acts as a built-in radiant barrier -IF it is vented.
Tony Davenport

8/10/2007
Tony, you have done some great research. You know your stuff. I am not aware of Title 24 requiring a 3/4" airgap above the sheathing. I think it may require it somewhere in the roof system though which could be beneath the sheathing. Please correct me if I am wrong. I am not sure what questions you have. Please let me know.
Todd Miller
Isaiah Industries, Inc.

8/10/2007
Todd, Thanks for your kind words. I found the 3/4" air gap reference for Title 24 in two places : 1. On page 63 of "Metal Roofing" August/September 2007.It is buried at the bottom of the table titled "2008 Title 24 Prescriptive Standards for Cool Roofing.For permit approval prior to 2009, the 3/4" gap is still a big issue because of the validation given by the Oak Ridge data cited in my previous post.Why the marketing people aren't all over this I can't understand. 2. The other source is Jon Wilson at RAM 1 877 638 2576. He'll probably refer you to his brother Jim at Metro who will refer you to Peter Croft (who is never in the office!).Yes,it took a lot of chasing to winkle this information out of the experts. The significance of battenless compliance with Title 24 2009 at less cost with dark pigmented ,stone-coated shakes seems a well kept secret! Hopefully my point isn't lost on the astute members of this Forum and alternatives will quickly emerge.Just please let me know what they are.
Tony Davenport

8/11/2007
The link I gave for Kool Blue doesn't work ,so here are the specifics: Product Name : "Palisade SA.HT" (means self-adhering ,high temperature) website http://www.sdp-products.com Mfr. SDP Advanced Polymer Products,Toronto 1-866 747 4035
Tony Davenport

8/12/2007
Has anyone looked into Steelrock's products? website: http://www.steelrockroofs.com Can anyone tell if they meet the requirements of a "cool roof" or energy star? Are there any advantages to the different mfg's ?
Chase Bradley
Gangsters

9/15/2008
I am not aware of steelrockroofs. It looks to me like their products are manufactured by Decra.
Todd Miller
Isaiah Industries, Inc.

9/15/2008