Will you be able to afford to replace your shingles?
Came across an article on the cost of asphalt going forward that should be food for thought for builders interested in ensuring that homeowners can afford to stay in their homes in the long run. Since asphalt shingles are the predominant roofing choice I thought the following article might make people reconsider roof design going forward. Essentially asphalt is going to get more expensive , so shingles will cost more! (considerably more?)
From the article…
“Larger forces could, however, make asphalt an increasingly profitable product in future years.”
“Asphalt is produced from the heaviest parts of heavy crude, and heavy crude production in North America is growing, thanks to the Alberta oil sands. That should mean more asphalt – but instead, the opposite has happened. Eager to capitalize on the heavy crude growth, refiners across the continent have scrambled to build what’s called “coking” capacity.”
“Cokers take those heaviest parts of the barrel and, in simple terms, refine them into more marketable products. That leaves less of the heavy product to make asphalt – and cokers are growing rapidly. Between 2008 and 2013 alone, North America will add more than 18 per cent to its total coking capacity, according to research firm GlobalData.”
“The new capacity has already had an impact on asphalt, which has historically moved up and down in tandem with oil prices. While that still happens to some extent today, it has become more decoupled from crude – and road builders and asphalt suppliers worry that the future will see higher prices for asphalt.”
Cheers,
Andrew
Andrew Henry
GBA Detail Library
A collection of one thousand construction details organized by climate and house part
Replies
An asphalt roof can be replaced with almost any other type of roofing, as long as the roof structure can handle the load. Replacement roofing choices will be determined largely by price and suitability.
As asphalt prices rise, there will be a growing demand for asphalt recycling, which is already happening in some areas. This will tend to stabilize the price of asphaltic products.
A better question about long-term affordability is how big a house does a client (or you) really need?
Shingles currently take up more than 10% of our landfills, pollute our Earth, and contaminate our ground water. Hopefully asphalt prices will rise exponentially and consumers will look into other roofing options like metal. Additionally, shingles provide no heat resistance from the sun.
There is a forward thinking company called Energy Roofing Systems that is committed to reducing our energy consumption today while keeping an eye on the horizon. They sell an Energy Star rated energy efficient metal roof that will not only be installed on top of existing shingle roofs keeping additional shingles out of landfills, but will also reduce household energy bills 30-40% and is solar ready.
For more info visit http://www.energyroofingsystems.net
The albedo, or solar reflectance, of a roofing material is almost completely determined by color, not magic coatings. The solar heat retention of a roofing material is dependent upon its albedo and its IR emissivity.
Light colored roofs are cool roofs (white is best), and within the same color range vented roofs are the coolest. Light colored, vented, high mass roofings - like Spanish tile - are the coolest of all.
Metal roofing can be a good option, but all metals have very high embodied energy, may not be easily recyclable depending on coatings, and in snow country they create avalanches that destroy shrubbery and anything else in the fall zone (as well as making snow removal difficult).