Understanding Green Roofing

Across the world, there’s more of an emphasis on reducing our carbon footprints. This has led many people to develop more eco-friendly habits or to seek out more environmentally conscious products for everyday life. Here at Pro Roofing, it’s directed our attention to our business practices. While our part may be small, we hope that by focusing on green roofing we can touch a larger demographic.

But what exactly is green roofing?

Green Roof vs. Green Roofing

Certain areas may see “green roofing” and picture a roof with growing vegetation resting atop it. These “green roofs” or “living roofs” are different than green roofing. Living roofs are composed of different layers to separate the root and irrigation systems from compromising the integrity of your roof and getting into your home.

Green roofing is a much more simple concept. “Green” is another term interchangeably used instead of “eco-friendly”--meaning our process of roofing has less of an impact on the environment. Reducing your carbon footprint can be as simple as taking a reusable grocery bag to the store, or it can mean recycling or composting at your home. For Pro Roofing, it means using materials that are made from recycled compounds.

Material Matters

The material that you use on your roofing has an effect on the overall aesthetic of your home, but it also determines the lifespan of your roof. Keep reading to learn more about Pro Roofing’s favored roofing materials:

Synthetic Slate

Slate roofing is one of the more timeless, popular roofing choices, but the brittle shingles can make installation expensive and breakage is a common issue with traditional slate roofing materials. The synthetic slate products that we use come to us through EcoStar--a leading manufacturer of sustainable, environmentally friendly steep-slope roofing products. EcoStar’s slate shingles are made from a composition of recycled rubber and plastics, which cuts down on application costs and improves flexibility.

Synthetic Shake

Cedar shake roofing is one of the only truly sustainable roofing materials on the market. However, cedar shake roofing can face issues when it comes to maintenance and has a shorter average lifespan.

Enter synthetic cedar shake. EcoStar’s synthetic shake tiles are made from 80% post-industrial recycled materials. The tiles are modeled after traditional cedar shake roofing so your home will still get the natural look so many homeowners love, but with the bonus of a longer average lifespan.

Metal

Metal roofing has many benefits to your home’s aesthetic and overall energy-efficiency. Some of the benefits of metal roofing include:

• Lasts much longer than asphalt or wood shingles—some may even last a lifetime

• Rapidly sheds water

• Well-known for its ability to shed snow buildup, avoiding clogging and other damages

• Highly resistant to wind damage and doesn’t diminish over time

• Provides great fire protection.

• Lightweight and can even be installed on top of your old roofing system

Metal roofing isn’t for every homeowner. Though your overall maintenance costs may drop through your roof’s lifetime, the cost of installation upfront is more expensive than other materials. Thinner materials such as copper or aluminum may take damage from falling branches or hail more easily and could require repairs.

Our Business Practices Set Us Apart

Here at Pro Roofing, we believe in doing everything we can to conduct business in an eco-friendly manner. We fully recycle all extra materials after a job is completed. Asphalt is the number one most recycled material in the world, and 100% of our materials are brought to the Waste Management Recycling Plant.

Even in the office, our team takes strides to make sure we’re leaving as little impact on the world as we can. For the business we do still conduct on paper we’ve switched to recycled paper, but the majority of our processes have been digitized. By switching to email versions of our pre-appointment information packs and updating our own infrastructure, we’re helping by conducting less business on paper.