U.S. Department of Energy - Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Federal Energy Management Program

Cool Roof Resource Guide for Federal Agencies

Photo of a white industrial building with a white roof featuring photovoltaic panels on top. The building stands on a verdant lot of land with a parking lot to the right.

Photovoltaics sit on the "cool roof" of the Environmental Protection Agency's Research Triangle Park facility.

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) assembled this list of "cool roof" resources to help Federal energy managers learn more about cool roof technologies and how they can be deployed. Many types of sustainable roofs exist, including white roofs, green roofs, and roofs with solar photovoltaic (PV) panels and/or solar hot water systems. The performance of a sustainable roof technology can often be optimized if it is integrated with a different sustainable roof technology. For example, the efficiency of a PV system often improves when it is placed above a cool roof.

Cool roofs strongly reflect sunlight (have high "solar reflectance") and efficiently emit thermal radiation (have high "thermal emittance"). By cooling the roof and reducing heat transfer into the building, cool roofs reduce the cooling load of the facility's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system thereby saving energy and money while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.

While cool roofs often reduce cooling loads caused by solar gains on the building roof, it is important to conduct modeling to ensure optimum results. Cool roofs may increase energy consumption in high-altitude or northern-latitude areas. FEMP recommends Federal agencies conduct site-specific modeling during the cool roof assessment phase.

Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Acrobat Reader.

Technology Overview

The following resources provide descriptive overviews of cool roof technologies:

Buying Guide

Photo of four man installing white roof sheets on top of a flat roof. One man is drilling the sheets to attach them to the sub-roof. Trees stand in the background.

Workers install a white roof in Atlanta, Georgia.

The following buying guides provide instructions for the Federal procurement of cool roof technologies:

  • FEMP Energy-Efficient Products: How to Buy Energy-Efficient Cool Roof Products (PDF 72 KB): Fact sheet containing Federal agency guidelines for buying cool roof products to save operating costs and energy.

  • ENERGY STAR® Reflective Roof Products for Consumers: Overview of reflective roof products as defined and qualified by the ENERGY STAR program.

Federal Applications

Additional Information

The following resources provide additional information on cool roof technologies and deployment activities:

  • FEMP Focus Summer 2008 Issue (PDF 1.9 MB): FEMP newsletter covering energy efficiency and renewable energy strategies, tactics, and technologies to meet Federal energy management goals.

  • Emerging Technologies for Energy Savings Performance Contracting (ESPCs) in the Federal Sector (PDF 422 KB): Report developed for FEMP by the Alliance to Save Energy with energy-saving technology recommendations for ESPC or utility energy services contracts financed Federal facility retrofits.

  • Selling Energy-Efficient Products to the Federal Government (PDF 808 KB): Reference guide providing basic information on how to do business with Federal agencies regarding energy-efficient products.

Resource Links

The following links provide additional sources for cool roof information:

Contacts

For additional information, contact:

Cyrus Nasseri
U.S. Department of Energy
Federal Energy Management Program
202-586-9138
cyrus.nasseri@ee.doe.gov

Mathew G. Gray
U.S. Department of Energy
Federal Energy Management Program
202-586-0067
mathew.gray@ee.doe.gov