 Darrell Schaapveld is an everyday hero of the business world. I met him at Living Green Expo. Darrell brings a boundless enthusiasm to ecological roofing. He believes that one should "always do something good for everyone you meet". His childhood early hunting experiences gave a strong appreciation for the outdoors and the environment. He combines this experience with "Beatnick turned flowerchild" to build a "life, mind and body" balanced environmental life. At the age of 62, Darrell believes his great health is due to good organic food.
I met Darrell because I have researching white roofs. White roofs have the potential of really cutting cooling costs,
now becoming widely recognized:
White roofing membrane has reached its prime. Its popularity is increasing as its benefits are recognized not only by architects and roofing contractors, but also by local government officials. As evidence of this, New York City is now mandating the use of white roofs.
California is also requiring white roofs, as reported in Enviromental and Urban Economics.
"White roofs can cut a building's energy use by 20 percent and save consumers money," says California Energy Commissioner Art Rosenfeld...Since 2005, commercial buildings with flat roofs in California have been required to have white roofs. Residential sloped roofs are also becoming more efficient. Beginning in 2009, new residential roofs and retrofit constructions in California will be required to have "cool-colored" roofs which reflect a higher fraction of the sun's rays than current roofing materials of the same color. |
| Darrell's company sells a Duro-Last white roof, which features a great cooling effect in summer with 86% reflectivity, meaning less heat is absorbed by the building. Darrell has promised to let me video a heat lamp experiment comparing the heat absorption of a black asphalt roof with a white Dura-Last roof. Even in winter the white roof does better for the snow builds up an insulating layer, while the black roof melts off the snow. Maybe I can get Darrell to set up an experiment for this one too. The white roofing material, Duro-Last, also is very light-weight which means that can be used over old roofs instead of requiring expensive tear-off costs plus the landfill impact of tearing off old roofs. And it lasts more than 30 years. The the only negative part is that Duro-Last is slippery, which makes installation tricker.
 Darrell's company,Four Seasons Energy Efficient Roofing, also does photovoltaic roofs are solar cells to actually provide electricity, pictured here on the side. Photovoltaic have a higher investment cost, payout depends on how high electrical costs go. Here are some of the types of calculations that Four Seasons Energy Efficient Roofing provides:
Example of Photovoltaic Savings: A 4 ft x 8 ft photovoltaic panel will generate 450 watts or about 51 kWh/month. (3.8 hrs avg peak sun hours in MN/day x 450 watts x 30 days / 1000 watts = 51.3 kWh/month) Xcel Energy representatives state that a typical household uses about 600 kWh per month so if a house had one 4 ft x 8 ft photovoltaic panel, the household would generate 51 kWh through the panel and would need to purchase 549 kWh from Xcel Energy for a total of 600 kWh for the month. To SOLELY power a three bedroom home through photovoltaics, the house would need approximately eleven 4 ft x 8 ft photovoltaic panels.
The Four Seasons roofing company has over 40 years of roofing experience and is ready to compare and install several types of roofing systems. The company is proud of many customer satisfaction awards.
As for myself, I have to see this heat lamp demo. However, I am sure that my next roof is going to be white! |
