Cool Roofs in California, Are You ready?

Roofing to meet Title 24 in California, are you ready?

We in California are very familiar with title 24 regarding Cool Roofs. For the past few years, we understand our choices of roofing materials are limited to the shingles now commonly called Cool Roof shingles. Both residential and commercial roofs, in certain climate zones in California, must comply with the state Cool Roof requirement. What that basically means is we need to use highly reflective shingles or normal shingle with other approved Cool Roof options when installing a roof.

Today we want to let you know of one change that will affect any roofing projects for residential roofing { > 2:12 } pitch roofs, or what is known as steep slope roofs.

Attic Ventilation no longer qualifies as an option for a Cool Roof

Since Cool Roofing materials have become required a few years back, there is now a wide variety of materials and colors. Non-white pigments with high reflectance colors are now available and when installed on a home will minimize the solar heating compared to darker shingles. Replacing your roof with reflecting cool roof shingles can significantly reduce building heat gain. This means your roof stays cooler on hot summer days and reduces the demand for air conditioning your home to keep your family comfortable.

The requirement to use these types of shingles will benefit you with savings over the life of the shingle but are still a little costly. Most roofs in California being replaced in the last few years have used one of these options to comply with Title 24. A balanced attic ventilation design, R-38 insulation, radiant barrier, her Duct tests or roof deck and roofing air separation of one inch.

Sorry to say, starting in July of 2014, the ventilation will no-longer comply as a Cool Roof option and roofers, do it yourself or anyone installing more than fifty percent of the roof will need to install a Cool Roof shingle or one of the other still accepted options.

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