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Evaluating the Energy Performance of Ballasted Roof Systems

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Abstract
It is well known that the mass of a ballasted roof can reduce peak roof temperatures and delay the heat flow into a building. Although ballasted roofs perform these “cool” functions, they do not meet the traditional requirement of high solar reflectance. This is one of the criteria set out by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other organizations in order for a roof to be “cool.” To address whether ballasted roofing systems offer energy efficiency benefits similar to cool roofs, a project to perform side-by-side experiments was initiated. Different loadings of stone-ballasted roofs and an uncoated paver-ballasted roof were compared to roofs under exposed black and white membranes. The six test sections were constructed and installed on a test building at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and monitored for energy performance for thirty-six months. One year into the project, systems with two loadings of pavers coated with a white coating were added. They were monitored along with the other six systems for the rest of the thirty-six month period.
Date
4/2008
Author(s)
Andre Desjarlais; Thomas Petrie; Jerald Atchley; Richard Gillenwater
Page(s)
1-30
Keyword(s)
Energy; Performance; Ballasted; Roof Systems


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