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In This Issue:

General Updates / Administrative

CRRC Becomes EPA-Recognized ENERGY STAR® Certification Body

Annual Renewals 2011: Update

Random Testing Update

Upcoming CRRC Laboratory Training Course

What’s So Cool About Continuing Education?

Technical Update

Technical Committee Meeting Update — January 18, 2011

ANSI Review Technical Task Group

Ratings, Codes and Programs

U.S. Army Adopts ASHRAE STANDARD 189.1 Including Cool Roofs

ANSI and Consensus Body Update

Membership and Outreach

November Board of Directors Meeting Update

Industry Insights

Solar Photovoltaic Systems and Cool Roofs

General Updates / Administrative

CRRC Becomes an EPA-Recognized
ENERGY STAR® Certification Body

This winter the CRRC was recognized by the EPA as an ENERGY STAR Certification Body (CB) for roofing products. In addition to being the first third-party roof rating program, the CRRC is now the only ENERGY STAR CB that offers product listings accepted by both EPA’s ENERGY STAR program and the California Energy Commission Title 24 compliance program. The CRRC is currently not charging any additional fees for ENERGY STAR certification, beyond standard licensee and product fees. However, the organization will be assessing our ENERGY STAR workload after the first quarter to determine if a nominal fee may be charged in the future.

Substantial ENERGY STAR program enhancements went into effect on January 1, 2011. All ENERGY STAR Partners who had products rated with the EPA before January 1, 2011 must have their products listed with an EPA-recognized CB before March 31, 2011. This is to ensure that your products are included in the 2011 verification testing process. When you choose the CRRC as your CB, your products may fall under one of the following tracks for ENERGY STAR certification:

1. Track A: Product is currently rated under both the CRRC and ENERGY STAR

2. Track B: Product is certified under ENERGY STAR but is not rated with the CRRC

3. Track C: Product is rated with the CRRC but is not ENERGY STAR certified

4. Track D: Product is not rated with either the CRRC or ENERGY STAR

The CRRC has developed several resources to help you easily and seamlessly certify your qualifying products with ENERGY STAR. Please reference our website for more information on ENERGY STAR and the certification process. If you have any questions about ENERGY STAR, please feel free to contact Jessica Clark at jessica@coolroofs.org or (510) 482-4420 x227.

Annual Renewals 2011: Update

Thanks to all CRRC participants who have completed their 2011 Renewals by the February 1st deadline! This is our third year using the online Renewals system and we hope to continue making further improvements to the system.

Please note that if your company has not completed their renewals by February 1, 2011, your renewal fees are now overdue. To encourage on-time payments and to create an equitable process for licensees who do pay before the deadline, the CRRC has implemented a nominal late fee charge. The late fee charge is one percent of your total payment per month; therefore, it will accrue by 1% each additional month the payment is late. If your company is currently processing the payment, please let us know and we will work with you to try to avoid this late fee. The late fee structure is as follows:

If payment is not received by May 1, 2011, we will terminate membership and/or licensee status and all products, as applicable. In order to reinstate your status after termination, companies must pay the full renewals invoice amount in addition to a 3% reactivation fee.

To pay your renewals fee, please log on to http://renewals.coolroofs.org. If you are unsure what your password is or if you have any questions related to the online Renewals system, please do not hesitate to contact Alexis Wong at alexis@coolroofs.org or (510) 482-4420 x279.

We welcome any feedback or suggestions as it will help us improve the system for next year. Please send Alexis your comments regarding your experience with the online renewals process.

Random Testing Update

Random testing is the method by which the CRRC ensures the credibility and accuracy of our rating program. Each year, we test 10% of all active Licensed Seller products in order to guarantee that their reflectance and emittance numbers match their listed values. We are in the process of wrapping up our 2009 random testing results. The 2010 random testing process has commenced with 92 products as follows:

Once we have finished each round of random testing, we will mail result letters to all licensees who had products tested. Final results will also be presented at the June 9th Membership Meeting. If you have any questions about random testing, please contact Alexis Wong at alexis@coolroofs.org or (510) 482-4420 x279.

Upcoming CRRC Laboratory Training Course

The CRRC is organizing the 2011 Laboratory Training Course, which will be held at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in Berkeley, California. The one-day course provides training on measuring the optical properties of roofing materials both in the laboratory environment and in the field.

The training covers the CRRC measurement standards listed below:

Laboratory Training Fees:
CRRC Members and Licensees — $350 per participant
Non-CRRC Members/Licensees — $500 per participant

Please contact Jessica Clark at jessica@coolroofs.org or (510) 482-4420 x227 if you are interested in attending the Lab Training. The date of the class will be determined by the availability of participants, but will likely be held in May or June 2011.

What’s So Cool About Continuing Education?

Apparently plenty. In 2009 the CRRC developed a continuing education course on cool roofs called What’s So Cool About Cool Roofs? that was featured in the March/April 2009 issue of GreenSource Magazine. The continuing education course offers a thorough overview of cool roofing for architects and contractors, who can earn an American Institute of Architects (AIA) and Roofing Contractors Institute accredited Continuing Education Unit (CEU) for reading the course and taking the course quiz.

The course reached 46,800 subscribers in GreenSource Magazine. Over the past 22 months, the course has been viewed online over 112,200 times, with 1,935 test takers. 70% of tests taken were done so for AIA CEUs. Over the past two years, the CEU course has proved to be a valuable resource for people interested in cool roofing, as well as a powerful educational outreach tool for the CRRC.

Technical Update

Technical Committee Meeting Update

The CRRC Technical Committee held its most recent meeting on January 18, 2011. Upcoming Technical Committee meetings are:

• March 16, Conference Call
• May 11, Washington D.C.
• September 22, San Francisco

Technical Committee meetings are open to all interested participants. If you would like to be added to the Technical Topics email list, please contact Kendra Kallevig-Childers at kendra@coolroofs.org or (510) 482-4420 x240.

New Technical Liaison
The CRRC would like to extend a warm welcome to Kendra Kallevig-Childers, who will be serving as the new Technical Liaison.

Thickness Measurement Device
CRRC AITLs test single ply thickness based on ASTM D751 and field applied coating thickness based on ASTM D1669. The CRRC would like to provide specific guidance to the AITLs regarding the use of digital gauges to measure thickness. The Committee decided to further investigate the use of digital gauges.

E1918 Artificial Light Study
The E1918 Artificial Light study will determine whether SR ratings with a Pyranometer can be successfully measured using an indoor light simulator. Atlas Weathering Services Group has volunteered to use their hot box light simulator to test the study samples. The Technical Committee will discuss the results when they become available and determine if E1918 with indoor light can be applied to the High Profile Test Method Study.

Transient/Slide Method
The purpose of this study is to determine if the Transient or Slide methods can accurately measure TE for products that have low thermal conductivity. Based on investigation from Charlie Moore of Device and Services (manufacturer of the Emissometer), the Transient method has been removed from the study due to its limited applicability to product types. The Slide method is moving forward, with the enhancement of using a standard port size adapter to accommodate smaller sample dimensions.

Rating Wood Products
The CRRC is working with the Cedar Shake and Shingle Bureau to develop a rating method for wood roofing products. Natural wood products present some new challenges in solar performance rating, due to inherent color variability, significant color change after aging, and other material properties. A task group is being formed to discuss these challenges. To join this task group, contact Kendra Kallevig-Childers at kendra@coolroofs.org or (510) 482-4420 x240.

ANSI Review Technical Task Group

The CRRC-1 Standard gained ANSI approval in November 2010. This spring we will begin a consensus review process to update the Standard. The Technical Committee is forming a task group to provide input on technical updates to the Standard. Please email kendra@coolroofs.org or (510) 482-4420 x240 if you would like to join this task group.

Ratings, Codes and Programs

U.S. Army Adopts ASHRAE STANDARD 189.1
Including Cool Roofs

U.S. Army officials will adopt and adapt ASHRAE Standard 189.1 as a new green building standard. ASHRAE Standard 189.1: Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings is the first green building standard in the U.S. intended to be enforced as a building code. The standard was finalized after four years of peer review and collaboration. According to an article in Buildings, the standard will be adopted on the Army’s 954 million square feet of facilities throughout the world.

The standard specifies new measures addressing energy efficiency, metering, storm water management, indoor/outdoor water consumption, and cool roofs. According to Section 5.3.2.3 of the Standard, 75% of the roof surface of a building and parking lot covering must have a cool roof. The Standard defines a cool roof as having an SRI of 78 for low-sloped and 29 for steep-sloped roofs, or as a roof material that complies with ENERGY STAR Program Requirements for Roof Products. You can read more about the U.S. Army and ASHRAE 189.1 Standard here.

ANSI and Consensus Body Update

The CRRC is pleased to announce the accreditation of the CRRC-1 Standard by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). After a three-year process, the Standard was accredited on November 16, 2010. Accreditation enables the CRRC-1 Standard to be referenced by building codes and rating programs worldwide in order to measure initial and aged solar reflectance and thermal emittance values of roofing products. The accreditation process began in 2007 when the CRRC became an Accredited Standards Developer with ANSI. A draft of the CRRC-1 Standard went through two public comment periods and was approved by the CRRC’s Board of Directors before gaining accreditation.

The CRRC is looking into submitting the Standard to be referenced by other code bodies, such as the International Code Council, the International Energy Conservation Code, the International Green Construction Code, and ASHRAE. Currently, CRRC staff members are working to integrate the CRRC-1 Standard with the CRRC Program Manual, as well as prepare for the Standard’s next review cycle. You can view the CRRC’s press release announcing ANSI accreditation here.

ANSI’s Essential Requirements specify that the process for standards development must be a collaborative, balanced and consensus-based approval process. As such every few years the standard must go through a public review process including public comment periods. For the CRRC-1 Standard the first of these reviews will take place over 2011 to 2012. As part of this process, consensus must be reached by representatives from materially affected and interested parties. This Consensus Body is a balanced group representing diverse interests, ensuring that all aspects of the standard are considered. In addition, standards undergo a public review, where any member of the public may submit comments. All comments are responded to and all affected organizations or individuals have an opportunity to appeal.

Prospective Consensus Body members must be able to make the following time commitments during the review period, which will last from approximately March 2011 to January 2012:
• Participation in four one-hour conference calls
• Reading the standard and comments proposed during public review periods
• Voting on changes to the Standard after each public review and for final approval

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Consensus Body, please send an email to alexis@coolroofs.org with your name and contact information including phone number and email address. Please put “Consensus Body” in the subject line of your email.

Membership and Outreach

November Board of Directors Meeting Update

On November 19, 2010 the Board held an in-person meeting in Chicago, Illinois, in conjunction with the Greenbuild Conference. On December 9, 2010 the Board held a conference call meeting to prepare for 2011. Both agendas were packed with discussion items, resulting in the following key decisions:

Fee Reduction
The Board approved reducing the renewal fees for Other Manufacturer (OM) referenced Licensed Seller (LS) products. This includes private labeled and metal products using factory applied paints that have been CRRC rated by an upstream manufacturer. The fee has been reduced from $120 to $60 per product renewal. This reduction went into effect for the 2011 renewal invoices. Additionally the Board decided to establish a task force to assess CRRC’s entire fee structure.

Developing Predictive Aging Formulas for All Product Types
The Board of Directors accepted the Technical Committee recommendation for the CRRC to initiate a study on the relationship between the initial and aged optical properties of roofing materials for all product types.

Adding AITL Test Method Capability to the CRRC Website
To improve CRRC client usability of the website, the Board decided that the test methods offered by each Accredited Independent Testing Laboratory (AITL) should be posted on the AITL page posted on the AITL page. Clients and licensees will be able to get a quick summary of the test services provided by each AITL in one place.

Mandatory AITL Annual Review of CRRC TM
In order to ensure that CRRC AITLs are up-to-date on changes to CRRC test procedures, the Board approved the implementation of an annual mandatory test method review session for all AITLs.

Industry Insights

Solar Photovoltaic Systems and Cool Roofs

This section allows Class B members an opportunity to share their insights on trends and new developments in the cool roofing industry. This quarter’s submission is on the burgeoning relationship between solar photovoltaic systems and cool roofs, provided by Christine Rombouts, a freelance sustainability writer.

Combining the energy-saving logic behind cool roofs with the energy producing value of a rooftop solar system, makes great sense. The idea is garnering increasing attention from both the solar industry and Federal Government, and may qualify for federal investment tax credits. This photo was taken on the Advanced Powering Services building in Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. Photo courtesy of Coat ‘N’ Cool.

It seems like a natural marriage of sustainable technologies . . . solar panels and cool roofs. Why not combine the energy-saving logic behind cool roofs with the energy producing value of a rooftop solar system? According to an article in Architecture Week, one company reports that the output of its solar power system when combined with a cool roof increases 20% due to the improved collection of reflected and diffuse light.

Insulated cool roofs, made of highly reflective and emissive materials, lower daytime air conditioning electricity usage by reflecting away sunlight and heat. The rapid adoption of cool roofs in the western and sunbelt states of the U.S. has been helped by the support of the U.S. Department of Energy's ENERGY STAR Program and by the requirements of the California Title 24 Energy Standard, which prescribes cool roofs to be employed whenever low-slope commercial roofs are constructed or replaced.

Partnering with other companies may be the ticket for roofing contractors. That’s just what four companies in Southern California have done by forming a strategic alliance to promote the installation of photovoltaics with cool roofs. Coat ‘N’ Cool, the cool roof provider, has joined forces with Advanced Powering Services, Montross Companies and Lineside Electric, to capture a larger share of the increasing popularity of solar energy systems by advancing the marriage with cool roofs.

How do cool roofs designed to reflect sunlight work with solar panels, which are designed to absorb it? Very well, in fact. Rather than working against the panels, the reflectivity of cool roofs sends more light to the panels from all directions. While this may not do much in aiding flush mounted arrays and panels that are not in a position to absorb any of the reflected light waves, it does not hurt either.

Combining photovoltaics with a cool roof is garnering increasing attention from both the solar industry and Federal Government. In a recently issued “private letter ruling” (P.L.R. 200947027), the Internal Revenue Service determined that the cost of a “highly reflective” roof installed in connection with a rooftop solar panel installation qualifies for the federal investment tax credit . In the letter, the IRS informed the owner of a manufacturing facility that the cost of the improvements to the existing roof qualified for the investment tax credit because the highly reflective roof surface “meaningfully increased” the amount of electricity generated by the PV panels. Of course, each situation is different and either the contractor or the customer should consult their own tax advisor concerning the federal tax implications of an investment of a cool roof in connection with PV panels.

Christine Rombouts is a freelance writer specializing in design, development and sustainable industries. She can be reached at crombouts@ca.rr.com.

Installation of solar photovoltaic panels on a cool roof in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. Photo courtesy of Coat ‘N’ Cool.