These days, sustainability is a common term in the construction and architectural industries, found in discussions in trade magazines and professional journals as well as in sales and advertising materials. Despite this, many professionals aren't certain about what characterizes truly "sustainable" buildings or what practical steps they can take to make them a reality.
Here, we provide an overview of some useful frameworks and the major topics for building owners to consider when developing a sustainable roofing strategy.
Sustainability Frameworks
Two of the most popular sustainable building frameworks are LEED and the Living Building Challenge.
LEED
One of the most useful guides to practical action is the LEED rating system, which provides a framework (attached to a points rating system) that defines sustainable buildings as those that help:
Reduce contributions to global climate change
Enhance individual human health
Protect and restore water resources
Protect and enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services
Promote sustainable and regenerative material cycles
Enhance community quality of life
Initiatives such as LEED certification provide green building standards that can help building owners focus on sustainable thinking around topics such as rainwater management, heat island reduction, water efficiency, energy optimization, and low-emitting materials.
A deep dive into the topics covered by LEED standards—and how to meet their certification criteria—is covered in the GAF Green Building Playbook. For example, building owners can leverage their roof to contribute to stormwater management, which not only earns LEED points but also allows owners to capture rainwater for reuse with irrigation or flushing toilets.
Living Building Challenge
The International Living Future Institute's Living Building Challenge green building rating system has seven performance categories (place, water, energy, health and happiness, materials, equity, and beauty) similar to those used for LEED certification and provides a particular focus on material health through its Declare label. Products with a Declare label designation of Red List Free or Red List Approved do not contain any chemicals on the Red List, a list of "worst in class" chemicals that could potentially be harmful to human health or the environment.
GAF is proud to be the first and only roofing manufacturer to hold a Declare label for single-ply roofing (EverGuard® TPO Membranes and EverGuard® TPO Extreme Smooth Membranes) as well as a Declare label for an entire roofing system (EverGuard® TPO Fleece-back Membranes, EnergyGuard™ NH Polyiso Insulation, and OlyBond500 Canisters™).
Regulatory Compliance and Sustainability Standards
While sustainability frameworks like LEED and Living Building Challenge have helped many building owners improve sustainability during construction and operation, they're not mandatory. In some locations and for specific types of building owners, sustainability is not an option, as it's mandated by building codes or other regulations.
Here's how sustainable roofing systems play a part in these programs:
LEED: While LEED certification is an option for most private owners, many government entities are mandated to build to this standard. In its latest revision, v4, sustainable roofing is impacted in various ways:
Higher energy performance thresholds, increasing the incentive to use lighter roofing materials that help reflect heat and keep buildings cooler.
Increased focus on reducing the urban heat island effect through the use of reflective and vegetated roofs.
Emphasis on transparency regarding the environmental impact of building materials, including roofing, and stressing the importance of life cycle assessment and environmental product declarations.
Increasing emphasis on building envelope commissioning, which includes the roof.
Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC) Standards: The CRRC standards help evaluate the reflective and radiative properties of roofing materials. Materials with high reflectivity, such as GAF Timberline HDZ® RS and CS shingles, help reduce the need for interior cooling, thereby improving energy efficiency and lowering operating costs. Case studies have shown that cool roofs provide significant energy savings, no matter the climate zone.
Regional building codes: In some locations, such as California, regional building codes require improved energy efficiency. Roofing materials can help meet these requirements through products rated to reduce heat transference.
Rethinking Buildings as Sustainable Systems
While initiatives such as LEED and the Living Building Challenge provide a solid foundation, meeting even a few of these abstract-sounding targets with concrete initiatives can be a complex undertaking, requiring granular knowledge and proven strategies. Challenges range from finding appropriate products that meet LEED certification requirements to making measurable estimates of the effect these products will have on a building's carbon footprint over time. A big factor in making the right sustainable product choices also involves a shift in how many building professionals view buildings themselves.
A good way to make that shift is to consider buildings as holistic, sustainable systems—with inputs and outputs—and to use the results of this exercise to inform your choice of the most appropriate products. Factors to consider for inputs for your roofing choices might include building location and the impacts of typical weather conditions on your choice of roof. Outputs might be ways of minimizing waste, like choosing durable materials that will not require replacement in the short term.
Thinking of buildings in this way makes it much easier to consider the products and approaches needed to improve environmental impacts: "Listen to the building," Jennifer Keegan, Director of Building and Roof Science at GAF, urges. "What does the building tell you it needs?"
Factors such as occupancy use, location, and environmental elements all play a role in deciding what roofing membranes to use and how to drive greater sustainability. Once you have some of this data, you can begin applying sustainable strategies that can help you make the most effective product decisions.
Carbon Footprint and Product Choice
A major source of product-decision data can be gleaned from the two core measures of a building's carbon footprint: embodied carbon and operational carbon. Knowing the difference is important, particularly as, according to Architecture 2030, buildings account for 42% of global energy-related carbon emissions worldwide. Operational emissions make up 27% of that total, while the remaining 15% comes from materials and construction.
Embodied carbon: These are the carbon dioxide emissions associated with materials and the initial construction process. This includes the manufacturing, transportation, installation, and waste management associated with building materials.
Operational carbon: By far the largest factor in a building's footprint, these are emissions produced by the building's operations—such as heating, cooling, electricity, and waste disposal—which will be a consideration for the entire life cycle of the structure.
These two components involve different cost calculations on the part of the building owner. Companies like GAF try to help building owners improve sustainability on both sides of the carbon footprint equation by helping reduce the emissions caused by the initial manufacture and installation of the products themselves, while long-term operational carbon emissions can be lowered through product-based strategies that deliver ongoing benefits—such as increased roof reflectivity and polyiso insulation to reduce a building's energy consumption over its life cycle.
Sustainability as an Investment Strategy
When considering ways of reducing environmental impacts, it's helpful for building owners to think of energy-efficient initiatives as part of a long-term investment strategy. While lowering embodied carbon can be relatively straightforward—such as using more sustainably optimized materials and processes in the construction process—reducing operational carbon-related impact can be more difficult. (Occupants will expect their building to be heated and cooled year-round rather than having these functions reduced or shut down, after all.)
This is where strategic investment thinking comes into its own: What product choices and changes could deliver cumulative energy efficiency benefits and cost savings over the life cycle of the building?
One PIMA study suggests that a measure such as energy-compliant roof replacement could be a good approach, for example. Another route might be reflective roofs, which can have a large influence over air-conditioning loads by reflecting up to 80% of the sun's rays and reducing energy consumption. Effective, sustainable insulation can be another way to increase the energy efficiency profile of a building while delivering cost savings. In this way, operational carbon reduction measures can be part of a sustainability investment strategy model that forecasts cumulative financial returns for both the owner (via energy savings) and the environment (via carbon reduction).
Wherever you are in your current approach, the good news about developing a sustainable roofing strategy for your building or construction project is that companies such as GAF and organizations such as LEED and the Living Building Challenge are fully on board with innovative products and thinking to help you make the most cost-effective choices for the most beneficial effects. This means it's getting easier to be part of a global effort to develop buildings that help promote healthy and prosperous communities in an environment that's safeguarded for generations to come.
Start Your Sustainability Journey Today
For professional advice on sustainable products and strategies, complete the GAF interest form, and a representative will be in touch.
See how we're leading the way in sustainable roofing by exploring our latest sustainability report, the 2022 GAF Sustainability Report. For information on innovative projects and products in the field, visit the dedicated GAF Sustainability page.
