Because of its, literally, elevated status in the building industry, roofing professionals and their clients have a variety of products to select from to provide all the necessary elements for a high-performance roof. And, the best incorporate new ways for home owners to conserve energy and contribute to sustainability goals.

 

Georgia-Pacific Wood Products offers two products that work hard and great in roofing installation, and are tested tops for their eco-friendly advantages – Plytanium® plywood and Thermostat® plywood radiant barrier sheathing.

 

 

Sun on the roof is excellent if you have solar panels for creating energy, but if you don’t, the heat created can impact efforts to keep a home comfortable. When absorbed through the roof, solar energy radiates heat downward toward the attic floor. Radiant barriers allow much of the heat radiated from a roof to be reflected away from the attic space. 

To help increase a house’s energy saving quotient, Georgia-Pacific offers Thermostat® plywood radiant barrier sheathing, which reflects up to 97% of the sun’s radiant heat. With Thermostat® sheathing, the radiant barrier foil surface reflects the heat received, thus reducing radiant heat transfer into the attic and living space. Radiant barrier sheathing is easy to incorporate into any roof installation, is easy to use and will not damage or effect shingles. The product is qualified for the Environmental Protection Agency/Department of Energy’s prestigious Energy Star® for radiant barrier residential insulation products and has been tested to save up to 17% on cooling energy consumption.

 

Georgia-Pacific’s position as a leading manufacturer of pine plywood structural panels and the largest manufacturer of plywood in the U.S. marketplace – which it first manufactured in 1964 – translates into a history of successfully working with wood within the building industry. Over the years, new products have emerged for roof installations, but there are many good reasons to use plywood, some of which impact a structure’s roof appearance, strength, potential to ward off damage, increase load capacity and make it easier and lighter to work with and install. Using wood for roof applications has been shown to be ideal for these proven and tested reasons:

 

• Creates a smooth, impact resistant and strong base for roof shingles.
• Deters the damaging elements of weather better by minimizing edge swell, reducing sag due to humidity, and holding up better to incidental wettings due to leaks,
• Lighter than OSB (15%) means less stress on roofing framing.
• Wood is a natural insulator, 15 times better than concrete and 400 times better than steel
• Wood panels are more resistant to temperature transfers than metal or masonry materials, helping save energy.
• Georgia-Pacific plywood panels are made from Sustainable Forestry Initiative® certified responsible wood sources.