White Roof Resources
What is a White Roof?
White roofs are just like standard roofs but they come with environmental benefits. White roofs actually reflect sunlight rather than absorbing it like standard, darker colored roofs. Since the roof reflects the UV rays being emitted from the sun, this reduces heat buildups in your home as well as surrounding cities. Heat build-up is not only damaging to your health, but also to the environment. If you live in a warmer climate, white roofs are very beneficial because they keep your house cooler which leads you to spend less money on air conditioning and reduces the amount of greenhouse gas being released into the air. The way white roofs can do this is because the roof’s surface only gets about 20 degrees warmer than the air around it. Compare this to a standard, darker-colored roof, whose surface can reach up to 100 degrees warmer than the air around it.
Malarkey Shingles
Photo: Malarkey Shingles
Malarkey Roofing Products is the first company in the roofing industry to release a smog-reducing shingle. They strive for sustainability which is exactly what they accomplished. They discovered the use of upcycled rubber and upcycled plastic to use in their shingle formulation. "Malarkey is also GreenCircle® certified for Recycled Product Content and Waste Diversion from Landfills at all its manufacturing facilities."
Malarkey shingles are another option that benefits the environment. These shingles are sustainably designed, meaning that they have upcycled rubber tires and plastic bags built into the shingle formulation. These components are important because they not only reduce landfill waste but having these products within your shingles increases their strength and durability that can last for 30 years. There are also many other components that go into these shingles that make them even more sustainable.
Upcycled Rubber/Plastic
Photo: Open Access Government
The Malarkey shingles include polymers from upcycled rubber tires and plastic bags. These compounds are added to the shingle asphalt formulation which improves the strength of the shingles and in turn, extends the product life. By upcycling these products, it helps clear out landfills which can help reduce pollution and save energy. Every average-sized Legacy roof from Malarkey Roofing Products contains 6 rubber tires and 4,000 plastic bags.
Adhesive Bonds
Photo: Malarkey Shingles
3M™ Roofing Granules
3M™ Roofing Granules is another component in the Malarkey shingles. Roofing granules are made from crushed stone and minerals and you can find these in any roof/shingle. What makes Malarkey’s shingles different, is that these granules are coated in ceramic which helps keep lasting color vibrancy. The 3M™ roofing granules have a defense against hail, scuffing, and aging effects that come with UV sunlight exposure. Malarkey shingles have up to 65% greater granule retention, which is the concept that your shingles will hold onto the granules in them better than standard shingles.
The Malarkey shingles are more dependable than normal shingles partially due to the adhesive bonds. These shingles have 6 bonds: 1 wind bond, 2 rain bonds, and 3 laminate synthetic rubber adhesive. Incorporating these different types of bonds, ensure high protection from high winds, wind-driven rain, and shingle delamination (the process of exposure to UV rays which causes wind and water damage). This compares to normal shingles by having 50% more adhesive bonds and twice the amount of rain seals. Malarkey shingles are made to last.
3M™ Smog Reducing Granules
The 3M™ Smog Reducing Granules is one of the most significant features in the Malarkey shingles. The function of these granules is to take smog-like gasses, such as Nitrogen Dioxide, and turn them into water-soluble salt ions that rinse off of the roof's shingles when it rains. The shingles do this by harnessing sunlight which is then converted by a process called photocatalytically. This makes Malarkey shingles very sustainable because they help to clean the air of emission-based pollutants. These pollutants, such as smog, are harmful to our environment by damaging crops and trees which in turn contributes to poor air quality. By incorporating the 3M™ Smog Reducing Granules into Malarkey shingles, it reduces air pollution to the equivalent of planting two trees.