Natural Slate Roofs: An Eco-Friendly Alternative
Slate has a historic past as a roofing material. The practice originated in Europe over a hundred years ago, and made its way to the USA where it is still used as a premier roofing material today. Slate roofs have many excellent qualities including color variations, long life, and fire deterring properties, but it also is more environmentally friendly than asphalt roofing.
1. Slate roofs saves on energy use
Slate acts as a natural insulator – keeping your house cooler in the hot summer months and warmer in the cold winter months. As a natural insulator, it helps you save money on heating and cooling costs. Slate is solid stone – so if it is properly installed it has a lower instance of letting out heat or cold, and letting in drafts. The dense nature of this natural stone stabilizes the temperature of the structure it covers – so it not only saves you money but is good for the environment with its lowered energy consumption.
2. Slate roofs produces less physical waste
Slate roofs produce less waste than the average asphalt roof. As they outlive most other roofing materials by decades, the low rate of replacement means fewer materials going to landfills overall, and is one of the biggest tips for deciding how to treat a residential roof, keeping maintenance costs of slate roofs low. As almost 5 percent of annual landfill intake is roofing waste, its easy to see why this natural stone is so popular with those who are looking for an ecofriendly option. Whereas an asphalt counterpart will produce landfill waste every 20 years. Slate is also recyclable! Removed slate tiles or even broken slate tiles can be used for flooring surfaces and other products, meaning even less waste goes to the landfill. As an added bonus – because slate lasts so long and doesn’t require replacement for decades, you are saving overall on emissions from the transport of materials to your home for roof replacements!
3. Slate is all natural
Using slate as a roofing material means you are choosing a product that does not require high levels of manufacturing or processing – which puts fewer toxins into the air. There are also no toxic chemicals used to purify, process, or make slate, making this material much healthier for the environment than some of its counterparts. Even the way slate is mined is less damaging to the environment compared to factories that manufacture and process other materials. This all natural product is truly ideal if you want a roof that will stand the test of time and be safe for the environment.
Your Slate Roofing Specialists
A.B. Edward Enterprises, Inc. has been providing there clients with a wide range of roofing services for many years in all types of roofing. For over 15 years we have served Chicagoland with over 5500+ happy customers and an unblemished A+ rating from the BBB. We would be happy to offer you advice on the care and keeping of your slate roof, or to provide you with a FREE estimate if you are interested in installing one!
Here are a few more articles we are recommending for you.
- 7 Amazing Benefits of a Natural Slate Roof
- Everything You Need To Know About Slate Roofing
- Benefits Of Having A Natural Slate Roof
- Are You Searching for a Reliable Chicago Slate Roofing Company?
