Sprayfoam Roofing Advantages

Energy performance, energy costs, utility bills and eco-responsibility have become important issues in the minds of business and home owners, particularly in the last few years during our uncertain economic times. The high cost of energy and parallel increases in utility bills have raised demand for efficiency. That’s the reason spray foam roofing materials are gaining so much attention.

Sprayed Polyurethane Foam or just Spray Foam has been in use for roofing for over 45 years. Sprayed Foam is a combination of isocyanate and polyol. These two components are fed through a machine that heats and pumps the two components into a spray gun, and is then applied to the roof. Because of this unique application process and the material itself, foam has many advantages over traditional roofing methods.

Perhaps the most important aspect of spray foam is what it offers in terms of energy savings and efficiency.

Energy Savings and Efficiency
In general, foam roofing frequently produces an energy savings of 30% or greater when compared to the alternative roofing systems. However, studies have shown even greater savings. For example:

• A study at Texas A&M University looked at 27 buildings and found that the savings in energy costs over 4.5 years would pay for the cost of the roof installation.
• Another study by the Oakridge National Laboratories documented cooling and heating energy loads were reduced by 50%.
• In April 2009, the Washington Post reported that the U.S Military was using spray foam tents in Iraq, dramatically reducing the amount of fuel needed for heating and cooling, saving around $2 million in energy costs per day.

A Cool-Roof Solution
Spray foam is a growing tool in the arsenal against urban heat islands. Heat islands are metropolitan areas that are significantly warmer that the surrounding rural areas (as much as 10 degrees different in some cases) particularly at night when the city doesn’t cool off as much as it should due to stored heat. Closed-cell spray polyurethane foam roofing systems provide an excellent cool-roof solution in commercial applications because they are sustainable and easily renewable. In addition, spray foam roofing can be combined with highly reflective roof coatings or single-ply membranes to reflect heat. Studies show that heat reflective coatings can save over 40 percent of cooling energy costs.

Other Advantages of Spray Foam
Spray foam is light weight — about 1/8 the weight of traditional roofing materials. It is durable — the closed cell structure gives foam roofing one of the highest R-Values (thermal resistance) of any roofing materials on the market, and it makes it highly water resistant as well as highly fire resistant. With proper maintenance, which is minimal for spray foam roofing systems, foam roofs can have a lifespan of 50 years or more. And finally, spray foam is flexible and seamless. The foam can be sprayed onto any surface, sealing tightly around vents, pipes and other protrusions through the roof, forming a terrific protective barrier.