If you care about your effect on the environment, you may want to choose eco-friendly materials when upgrading your home. Fortunately, in terms of roofing materials, you have several environmentally options to choose from.
1. Metal
Metal is eco-friendly in many ways. First, because metal is so durable, it lasts a long time. This means that you won't need to replace your metal roof for several decades, which reduces the need to manufacture more roofing materials. And even when you do eventually replace a metal roof, you can recycle the metal parts instead of dumping them.
Metal roofs are also excellent insulators of homes. This is good for the environment because you'll use your heater less in winter and your air conditioner less in summer, reducing your carbon footprint.
2. Wooden Shingles
Wooden shingles do require a lot of maintenance, but they are attractive and environmentally friendly. Like metals roofs, wooden shingle roofs are good insulators, so they can help to reduce your energy consumption during winter and summer. And when wooden shingles eventually need to be replaced, you can recycle them in numerous ways. For instance, you can turn them into mulch.
3. Rubber Shingles
Rubber shingles are another great eco-friendly option because many rubber shingles are made from recycled materials, such as old tires. Rubber shingles are also recyclable, which means that once you replace a rubber shingle roof, the shingles can be recycled. Rubber roofs are also great at insulating buildings, which helps to lower energy consumption.
Rubber shingles are also attractive because they can be made to resemble wooden shingles.
4. Slate Tiles
One of the most expensive roofing materials on the market today is slate. This is because slate is highly durable, and a hard slate roof can last as long as 200 years! Not only that, but slate is a natural material, which makes it better for the environment than other manmade materials like rubber or asphalt.
And one amazing quality of slate tiles that you can utilize is the ability of slate tiles to absorb the sun's radiation. This is because slate tiles are dark in color. You can then turn your slate tile roof into a solar collector and convert the sun's radiation into a heat source for your home. This can help you heat your water and your home, and lower your electricity consumption.
If you care about the environment, consider choosing one of these options when you need to replace your roof. For more information about roof installation, contact a company like Kerry Roofing LLC.