Energy Star Colors:

Whirlwind has taken a strong stand in today’s fight against global warming, higher energy costs, and concerning trends such as the Urban Heat Island effect, by initiating 10 colors that are energy star approved as well as educating the industry about “Cool Roofing”.  Whirlwind has partnered with Akzo Nobel as the provider of the paint used to coat the metal for the roof and wall panels.  By offering energy star approved products Whirlwind is not only trying to improve the negative effects on the environment, but also the ability to provide a way to achieve significantly lower energy costs for the consumer.

Buildings are responsible for almost 2/3 of the nation’s electricity consumption and more then 1/3 of the total primary energy use.  In 2005, 29% of architects said that cool roofing qualities influenced their decision to use metal.  Qualified roof products can reduce peak cooling demand by 10-15% and can decrease heat transferred into a building.  Cool Roofing is an easy answer to today’s energy crisis for the architect; the builder, the consumer, and Whirlwind are ready to meet the demand for cool metal roofing.

Cool White is Whirlwind’s newest color added to the Energy Star approval list.  It comes with a reflectivity rating of 0.7 out of 1.0 and an emissivity rating of 0.86 also out of 1.0.  Reflective roofing can save up to 40% in cooling energy.  For example, tar and gravel have a reflectivity rating of .03 to 0.18 meaning more heat/energy is absorbed into the building resulting in higher costs to cool.  A brick/stone building has a reflectivity rating of 0.20 to 0.40 and an asphalt road comes in with 0.05 to 0.20.  This information supports the Urban Heat Island effect, meaning urban areas can be 6-12° warmer which can lead to higher air condition loads to cool buildings down.  Darker roofing surfaces, parking lots, roads, etc all fuel the Urban Heat Island effect because they absorb more heat.