Did you know that you could reduce your energy bills, help keep your neighbourhood cool and reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, just by changing the colour of your roof?
Council also offers a small subsidy of up to $100 towards the installation of a cool roof or to change the colour of an existing roof from dark to light.
This is because cool roofs are generally lighter in colour, which helps to reflect more heat and absorb less solar energy.
During Adelaide's hot summers, cool, heat-reflective roofs are estimated to reflect up to 70% more of the summer heat than a dark roof, which only reflects about 20-30% of heat with the rest of the energy absorbed into the living spaces of the building.
A heat-reflective roof can be up to 28°C cooler during a heat wave, which leads to a cooler house, less energy being used to cool the house and therefore a reduced energy bill.
Not to mention a reduction in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
A cool roof can be installed on any building or retrofitted. There are also specialist paints for cool roofs that have the technology to maximise heat reflection and can be applied after installation.
Not all cool roof products are light-coloured and there are many that use darker pigments that still have high heat reflectivity.
The City of Melbourne has already committed to the use of cool roofs as one way of reducing the amount of energy used to cool the city's buildings and reduce urban heat levels.
