Urban Heat Island Effect
This information is important in regards to the durability and length of live for your Oklahoma roof during our hot summer times. And it is especially important this summer of 2015, due to the amount of rain we’ve had and the humidity in the air.
We’ve rewritten this information from the EPA website (http://www.epa.gov/heatisland/about/index.htm), at which you can learn even more about this. Our goal in giving you this information is to help you ensure that your roof lasts as long as possible, as it is expensive to replace. And, as we simply do not want our roofs to degenerate and leak!!
What is an Urban Heat Island? Urban areas have many surfaces that are not permeable, such as concrete and roofs. Undeveloped areas do, such as open land and vegetation. This causes the urban regions to become warmer than their rural regions around them, forming something called an “island” of hotter temperatures.
How does this occur? On hot, sunny days, the sun can heat exposed urban surfaces to temperatures that are much hotter than the air! Shaded and even moist surfaces can be cooler. This increase in temperature increases even more in the evenings, from the slow release of heat from the structure and roof.
How does this affect you and your home? It can affect the quality of your life and the materials experiencing this heat. For example, our energy consumptions and costs increase, as does the pressure on the electricity grid. Additionally, there are elevated emissions of air pollutants released, promoting formation of ground-level ozone. These hotter temperatures during the day and night, combined with higher level of air pollutants, can affect the respiratory system and other health systems. They also negatively affect the materials on your roof.
What can you do to help this situation? We recommend installing cooler roofing systems, excellent roof air circulation, and using specific roofing products that are best to use in Oklahoma.
For more information, please call us at 405-601-9222. We’re here to help you protect your roof and building!