Yes: Metal roofing offers three primary ways in which it keeps homes cooler and reduces air conditioning costs often by 20% or more. First, light colored metal roofs and some metal roofs with special pigments in dark colors reflect radiant heat. Second, metal roofs lose any gained heat very quickly to the sky when the sun sets or goes behind a cloud or even when a slight breeze blows. Other roofing materials capture and retain the sun’s heat. Third, metal roof panels have an integral airspace between the metal and the roof deck in the way of ribs. This airspace acts as a thermal break, stopping conductive heat transfer. Common terms used in relation to metal roofing are:
Emissivity - Metal roofs can be painted to achieve noteworthy emissivity ratings as high as 90%. Emissivity is a term used to describe the heat that is radiated - or emitted - from a surface. For example the asphalt on your street has low emissivity - and high heat transference - which is why it is virtually impossible to walk on it barefoot on a hot summer day. The sun's heat is absorbed into the asphalt and then transferred to the surrounding environment. On the other hand, properly treated metal roofing has low emissivity and high reflectivity, which keeps buildings significantly cooler in warmer weather, noticeably reducing overall cooling loads.
Reflectivity - In addition to low emissivity, cool metal roofs are also highly reflective. This means that radiant heat from the sun is reflected directly back into the atmosphere. When you consider that 40% or more of the nation's energy is spent on heating and cooling costs, this becomes a significant source of energy savings.