National Coatings Blog

Reflective roof coatings provide excellent benefits due to their ability to reflect the sun’s heat away from the building. This article will focus on the importance of reflectivity; however, keep in mind that choosing a reflective roof coating system over traditional roofing also saves building owners and facility maintenance managers time and money and these coating systems provide contractors with ease of installation. You can get a roof coating system that meets and exceeds rigorous standards set by ASTM, AIA, FM, ICC-ES, UL, ENERGY STAR, CRRC, Miami-Dade County and LEED. Click here for the AcryShield product line list of credentials and ratings.

The main benefit of using a reflective roof coating is its capability to cool and protect the surface of the roof by blocking the majority of UV rays (heat) from being absorbed into the roof. Because these coatings do this, they can also:

• Decreases roof surface temperature by more than 50˚F according to an article the US Department of Energy wrote, Guidelines for Selecting Cool Roofs.
• Lowers electrical costs used to air condition the building
• Improves indoor comfort by reducing the ambient air temperature inside the building up to 6 degrees according to RCMA (Roof Coating Manufacturer’s Association)
• Improves R-value for better insulation or resistance to heat flow transfer
• Increases the efficiency and lifespan of your HVAC units
• Prevents and protects against premature degradation and aging caused by high surface temperatures on the roof - fun fact - the sun’s heat is the #1 cause of premature roof failure.
• Lengthened roof life-cycle
• Reduced roof maintenance costs
• Provides 100% sustainability and renewability
• Environmentally safe and friendly – reduces landfill waste, ultra low or zero VOC’s, reduces energy consumption and costs and does not require a costly roof tear-off

Learn more about reflective roof coatings; download our Free Guide to Roof Coatings – Cool Roof Buyer’s Guide.

Yes! National Coatings is proud to say that we are located in the United States. We believe it is important to keep business thriving domestically therefore; we strive to purchase high quality American-manufactured products to use in our coatings.

Our corporate headquarters are located in Camarillo, California. This is where all of our base coats and topcoats are created. Being domestically located, our production plant allows us to provide our customers with high quality, innovative roofing products, without shipping delays and in the following variety of volumes - tankers, 275-gallon totes, 55-gallon drums, and/or 5-gallon pails. These container sizes allow for easy and eco-friendly transportation of our AcryShield roof coatings to your job site – if you are interested in more information on transporting our coatings, click here.

National Coatings is very proud of our state of the art laboratory, at our corporate headquarters, where our team of scientists create roofing products with exceptional waterproofing, superior performance, excellent durability and outstanding adhesion. These innovative roofing products pave the way for the future of the roofing industry. We test our AcryShield roof coatings to ensure they meet building codes and are compliant with our ratings. (Click here to see all of our credentials and ratings.) We also compare our coatings to the competition. This allows us to confidently make the following statement about our products year after year, “our coatings have MORE UV blocking pigments, are richer in performance polymers, providing strength, elasticity, adhesion and durability, contain zero or ultra low VOC’s, have few water sensitive ingredients, and incorporate advanced microbial protection.”

Supporting our businesses here in the United States helps strengthen our economy and provides greater opportunities for our communities. National Coatings started from the ground up more than 34 years ago and is proud to continually be expanding business opportunities while contributing to the ecological sustainability here at home. We thank our customers for their continued support to allow us to be the company we are today! For more information on our products and our company, you can download our FREE Benefits Brochure.

White roof coatings provide two excellent benefits for a newly constructed roof. The first is reduced heat load to the building if it does not already have a reflective roof and the second benefit is that white roof coatings extend the roof’s lifespan.                    

Reduced Heat Load

White roof coatings are reflective; allowing the roof surface to reflect a majority of the sun’s heat caused by ultra violet (UV) radiation away from the rooftop, back into the atmosphere. The ability to reflect the bulk of the radiation allows only a minimal amount of the remaining heat to be transferred into the building below.

Most white roof coatings are able to reflect 80% or more of the sun’s heat compared to a black surfaced roof that absorbs the full amount of heat. Reflective coatings therefore provide a much cooler indoor climate without any air conditioning usage, while a black surface roof would heat the inside of the building at a faster rate, requiring the use of an air conditioning unit to provide a comfortable environment to tenants, employees and customers inside.

The reduced heat load to the inside of the building offers energy cooling savings and reduced HVAC usage. This can drastically reduce your energy utility bill, resulting in substantial savings throughout the year.

Extended Lifespan

Reflective roof coatings contain UV blocking ingredients that protect the surface of the roof from premature degradation. UV rays are the leading cause of roof damage as a result of excessive heating of the substrate caused by prolonged sun exposure, ultimately leading to a brittle and inflexible surface, eventually leading to water damage and other forms of roof degradation. White roof coatings protect the roof with its ability to reflect the damaging UV rays, allowing the lifespan of the roof to be extended beyond the roofs original life expectancy. This concept can be compared to sunblock on our skin. Sunblock protects our skin from premature aging and sun damage, while the lack of sunblock creates premature damage - wrinkles, sunburns, blisters and more. 

National Coatings strongly suggests the use of white roof coatings to protect your roof and lengthen its service life while reducing energy cooling costs.  For more information on roof coatings, download our FREE guide – Considering Coatings, a Free Guide to Roof Coatings.