Birdair, Inc. Offers First ENERGY STAR® and Cool Roof Rating Council Certified Translucent Fabric Membrane

Birdair, Inc., the leading specialty contractor of lightweight long-span roofing systems and tensile structures throughout the world, now offers SHEERFILL® Architectural Membrane, the first ENERGY STAR® qualified and Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC) certified architectural fabric membrane.

Cool roofs, a roofing system that can deliver high solar reflectance and high thermal emittance, enhance roof durability and reduce both building cooling loads and the heat island effect.

The CRRC, a private nonprofit organization, develops accurate and credible methods for evaluating and labeling the solar reflectance and thermal emittance of roofing products. CRRC certified products are evaluated based on initial performance levels and aged performance levels over a three-year period. SHEERFILL maintains an initial solar reflectance performance rating of 0.73 and an initial thermal emittance rating of 0.89.

As a joint program between the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy, ENERGY STAR works to protect the environment through energy-efficient products and practices, helping to measure energy performance by setting goals, tracking savings and rewarding improvements. As an ENERGY STAR product, SHEERFILL can help lower air conditioning requirements in buildings, reducing peak cooling demand by 10-15 percent.

The desire for energy-efficient roofing products like SHEERFILL, manufactured by Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics, continues to grow as a result of wider adoption of green building standards as well as updated energy code requirements.

“As a member of the U.S. Green Building Council, our ability to now offer a translucent, energy- efficient fabric membrane that is both ENERGY STAR and CRRC certified will further strengthen Birdair’s leadership position in our industry,” says Kevin Mayer, Birdair vice president of business development, sales and marketing.

“We tested the percentage of reflectivity and emissivity from three different buildings varying in age up to 20 years,” says Marcel Dery, architectural marketing manager for Saint-Gobain. “Even after 20 years, the SHEERFILL fabric membrane’s energy-saving attributes were virtually unchanged.”

Accordingly, ENERGY STAR and CRRC certified fabric roof membrane offers a variety of benefits, including reduced surface roof temperatures, decreased heat absorption and minimized air-conditioning requirements. Cool fabric roof membrane is very translucent, maximizing daylighting benefits while increasing energy savings.

“Architects and building owners continue to look for cool roofing products when they are establishing their building and site design objectives,” notes William Barden, AIA, Birdair’s director of architectural development.