b'r es id e nt \' sArticl e Reflections on Reflectivity ByBarr, MRCA President Jim Theandof ditorsOuras always, is to workroofs provide ain cold clistaffboardrec goal,benefit of the Midwest Roofing Contrac to improve our industry, tomates that is not realized in warm provide sy prepar contractors with tors Association are bu our memberuse climates. We also know that reflecingourdJanu fultoolsandservices,andtotiveroofsdon\'tmaintaintheir forboar meeting,ary 11th and 12th in Key West, Fla. Itmaintain ourin the in reflectivity without regular mainpositiondus teis at this meeting that we set thetryastheroofingcontractor\'snance. W tdon\'t know at ha wethis agenda a d ine the diradvocate.pointis wheretheappropriate ndeterm ection for the board for the comingAnissue of interest to roofingmiddle ground might be in terms year.contractors, a oficular inter of aflectivity standa that does ndpart re rd Primarily, this work consists ofest to one segment of the MRCAnot unfairly reward some types of establishing the edu pro membership, is the code revisionroofingsystemsor penalize othcational gramming to be pres at ourrecentlyenacted bythe cityofers. ented An issue ofannual convention and tradeChicago relative to roof reflectivity,Until we have more information, showin Chicago thisemissivityandbuildingthepositionoftheMRCAis to interest to roofingSeptember,identi insulation.defer torat the Chicago ou friends fying and develop T reflectivityRootingContractorsAssociation contractors, and ofhe ingnewrevions stem fromand the National R Contracisoofing particular interest tomemberserv researchdoneontorsAssociation.T MRCA he icesas wellasthe West Coast thatstandsr dy to assist allparties eathe one segment ofrefiningcurrentidentifiedan"urbanwhenevertheneedarises.The MRCA membership,services,workingheatislandT&Rcommittee\'songoingcoatonmembershipeffect"thathasingsas well as the testing of study, is the code revisiondevelopment,andbeendeemedfire-ratings of agedroot assemaddressingtheinternal"und le".b s, could provide valuable data recently enacted byesirab lieoperations ofassociation. T The code revisions enacted byif desired. In a even we plan to thehenyt, Chicago the city ofrenownedMRCATechnicalandChicago(seebelow*)wouldkeep the issue firmly fixed on our Research Committee also meetsseverely restrict the types of lowradar screen. relative to roofat th time tocontinue their work,andmediumslopesystemsthat is reflectivity, emissiv which will be summarized for thecouldbeinstalled.T isobvihis membership in aT&Rously a complicatedissuethat ity and buildingupdate.forthcomingcontains technical, economic and insulation.ramifications. political We know that black roofs invite higher heatloads andaccelerate the aging process, and that black *In article 3the ordinance, Design Conditions andRequirements.new regulation states: ofGeneralthe Roof Reflections and To minimize the undesirable "urban heat island effect", lowmedium sloped roots shall comply with the following requirements when tested in accordance with A E408.The roofofroofs (2:12 or STMsurfacelow sloped less) shall have an initialreflectance greater than orto 0.65 and shall maintain aequal or solarequalreflectance greater than 0.50 for three years after installation. Medium sloped roofs (greater than 2:12 and less than 5:12) shallareflectance equal togreater than 0. 15 initiallytoryears afterMinimum havesolarorandthreeinstallation. emissivity shall be 0.9. Exception: Roofs orofutilizesolar thermal or roofsystems. portionroots thatphotovoltaic,garden'