[Bldg-sim] Why should roofs have high emissivity?

Brad Painting bradpainting at gmail.com
Mon Nov 30 21:02:02 PST 2009


I was actually just writing an article but I wanted to know for any future
designs. It's my understanding that if the coating is opaque, the solar
reflectance and emittance only depend on the coating itself. The LEED
Reference Guide v. 2.2 lists coolroofs.org as a resource, which seems to
have a pretty comprehensive database of ratings (SR and emittance) for
field-applied paints/coatings. I'm not sure what to do if you can't find
data on your specific coating.

On Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 6:16 PM, Acker, Brad <backer at uidaho.edu> wrote:

>  This has been an interesting thread. What I am wondering is do you plan
> on getting a LEED point for a cool roof? If so and you are not going to use
> a "pre-approved" product how do you plan to show compliance with whatever
> emissivity or reflectance values are required? If pretty sure if you just
> painted your roof white you would need to show some test data per the
> correct procedures that your roof has the correct values. Anyone have
> experience with this?
>
>  Brad in Boise
> ------------------------------
> *From:* bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org on behalf of Abaza Hussein
> *Sent:* Mon 11/30/2009 3:07 PM
>
> *To:* bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
> *Subject:* Re: [Bldg-sim] Why should roofs have high emissivity?
>
>  A key issue is the difference in values between the reflectance and the
> emissivity of a surface. For example, some white paint has higher emissivity
> than reflectance which makes it better than aluminum foil.
> Hussein Abaza
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Larry Degelman" <ldegelman at suddenlink.net>
> To: "Brad Painting" <bradpainting at gmail.com>,
> bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
> Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2009 8:43:05 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> Subject: Re: [Bldg-sim] Why should roofs have high emissivity?
>
> Yes, it makes sense.  High emissivity allows a roof to radiate its stored
> heat to the sky, thus aiding the cooling effect, so, yes, good for hot
> climates!
>
> Note also that ASHRAE 90.1 gives credit for (i.e., relaxes) the U-Factor
> requirement for such roofs in climate zones 1, 2 and 3 (the warmest zones).
> The ASHRAE Standard uses the term "High Albedo" for roofs with high
> reflectance AND high emissivity -- this is addressed in Section 5.5.3.1.1
> and Table 5.5.3.1 in the 2007 version.
>
> Regards,
>
> ===========================
> Larry O. Degelman, P.E.
> Professor Emeritus of Architecture
> Texas A&M University
> College Station, TX 77845
> ldegelman at suddenlink.net
> ===========================
>
>
> From: Brad Painting
> Sent: Sunday, November 29, 2009 2:57 PM
> To: bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
> Subject: [Bldg-sim] Why should roofs have high emissivity?
>
>
> It seems to me that a roof that emits more radiation will have a greater
> warming effect on the building. Some houses in warm climates have radiant
> barriers because the aluminum has a low emissivity, thus blocking the
> infrared radiation. But both LEED and Energy Star suggest high emissivity
> for warm climates. Does this make sense?
>
> >From LEED NC Reference Guide v. 2.2:
>
> "To maximize energy savings and minimize heat island effects, materials
> must exhibit a high reflectivity and a high emissivity over the life of the
> product."
>
> >From Energy Star website:
>
> "In warm and sunny climates highly emissive roof products can help reduce
> the cooling load on the building by releasing the remaining heat absorbed
> from the sun."
>
> Thanks,
>
> Brad
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
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