Cool Roof Systems; What is the Condensation Risk?

Conference · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 2014

OSTI ID:1158736

Kehrer, Manfred ^[1]; Pallin, Simon B ^[1]

---

1. ORNL

A white roof, or cool roof, is constructed to decrease thermal loads from solar radiation, therefore saving energy by decreasing the cooling demands. Unfortunately, cool roofs with a mechanically attached membrane have shown a higher risk of intermediate condensation in the materials below the membrane in certain climates (Ennis & Kehrer, 2011) and in comparison with similar constructions with a darker exterior surface (Bludau, Zirkelbach, & Kuenzel, 2009). As a consequence, questions have been raised regarding the sustainability and reliability of using cool roof membranes in northern U.S. climate zones.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• DOE Contract Number: DE-AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1158736
• Resource Relation: Conference: 10th Nordic Symposium on Building Physics, Lund, Sweden, 20140615, 20140619
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English