Aluminum
Aluminum is one of the longest-lasting metals, but somewhat expensive compared to steel products. Aluminum roofs are very lightweight, corrosion-resistant, have high natural reflectivity and even higher natural emissivity. These properties help increase a building’s energy efficiency.
Benefits of aluminium:
- Light Weight
- Portability
- Durability. Most metal roofing products today come with warranties from 25 to 50 years. Sheet materials like aluminum are inherently durable; the oxidization of the base material forms a protective patina
- Metal roofs are often used to cover large buildings because of their high strength to weight ratio
- Fire and spark resistant
- Wind resistant
- Metal is readily recyclable. Most metals can be recycled over and over without losing any valuable properties
- Design flexibility. Some steel roofing products can be installed over open framing. They can also accommodate various architectural shapes
- Energy efficiency. Coatings with high reflectivity commonly save 20-30% on air-conditioning costs due to reflecting away much of the sun’s heat
- Labor efficient
-
Most metal roofing products require very little or no maintenance
Disadvantages:
- Care must be taken on large roofs to provide for thermal movement
- Movement caused by differences in temperature may cause objectionable noise
- Care must be taken with all metal roof products to avoid incompatible materials Dissimilar metals can cause unexpected and rapid corrosion
- Metal refining and production and transport of metal roof components can be energy-intensive. The flipside of this is the relatively clean and energy saving process of metal recycling
- Expensive
Metal Roofing is a very versatile building material. It is not only used in roofing applications, but also may be used as a wall covering. There are many different profiles and styles for aesthetic impact.
The major problem with metal roofs in warm weather is the fact that they absorb and retain enormous quantities of heat. In non-air-conditioned buildings, this translates directly into high building envelope heat loads, temperature and moisture build-up. For air-conditioned buildings, it means higher energy costs as the air-conditioning has to fight heat that builds up continuously during the day.
WIKIPEDIA ENTRY FOR METAL ROOF.
