CRRC Upgrades Rated Products Directory to Meet Growing Market for Cool Steep-slope Roofing Products Advanced by PG&E Residential Cool Roof Rebate

OAKLAND, CA – October 3, 2006

Cool roofing is quickly making inroads into the steep-slope market and onto the Cool Roof Rating Council’s Rated Products Directory. In anticipation of an influx of steep-slope and residential products, the CRRC recently upgraded the Directory from a static list in pdf format to a dynamic, searchable web interface. The searchable CRRC Directory unveiling fortuitously coincides with the launch of the new Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Residential Cool Roof Rebate program.

With over 750 rated products, the CRRC’s new searchable Directory allows architects, roof specifiers, building owners and other users to easily find a CRRC rated product to fit their needs. The new format allows users to search the Directory (found at http://www.coolroofs.org/products/search.php) by key parameters, including material type, manufacturing company, radiative properties, and slope to more easily identify products meeting their specifications. Additionally, the results page allows users to sort their search results by any of the key parameters by clicking on the column headings. The CRRC expects the number of rated products to continue to increase rapidly as a result of product innovation, incentive programs such as the rebate from PG&E, and the potential of residential cool roof requirements in state codes. The new search capabilities streamline the search and selection process so Directory users can truly benefit from the increasing product selection.

Just announced on September 13, 2006, PG&E’s new Residential Cool Roof Rebate Program provides incentives for qualifying residential customers who re-roof their homes with CRRC-rated cool roofing materials that meet minimum solar reflectance and thermal emittance requirements set by PG&E. For steep-slopes, PG&E is offering two rebates levels: $0.20 per square foot for products with a solar reflectance of 0.40 or higher and a minimum thermal emittance of 0.75 and $0.10 per square foot for products with a solar reflectance of 0.25 to 0.39 and a minimum thermal emittance of 0.75. PG&E is also offering a rebate of $0.20 per square foot for low-slope residential products with a solar reflectance greater or equal to 0.70 and a thermal emittance of at least 0.75.

PG&E’s rebate program will help transition the market for the anticipated residential roofing requirements in California’s Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24) in 2008. The California Energy Commission (CEC) is in the midst of developing changes to Title 24 and considering adding a cool roof prescription for residential roofs and non-residential steep-slope roofs. PG&E’s rebate program will run through November 30, 2008 in anticipation of the update to Title 24.

While the PG&E rebate and Tile 24 update will push the residential and steep- slope roofing markets toward ‘cool’ products in California, these efforts are part of a national trend recognizing the importance of cool roofing as an energy-saving measure. Voluntary green building rating systems like the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) and the Green Building Initiative’s Green GlobesTM both give credit for cool roofs and recognize CRRC ratings.

Established in 1998, the CRRC is a non-profit organization focused on implementing a fair, accurate, and credible radiative energy performance rating system for roof surfaces and disseminating the information to all interested parties. The Product Rating Program, the core element of the CRRC, was launched in September 2002 with the purpose of reporting initial and three-year aged values for solar reflectance and thermal emittance. The CRRC’s Rating Program complements other programs, such as the ENERGY STAR program, which set minimum performance thresholds.

In many locations, cool roofs not only save energy and money by reducing air- conditioning needs, their implementation on a wide scale also promises to reduce the urban heat island phenomenon by lowering a community’s ambient temperatures by several degrees. All interested parties are encouraged to pursue these benefits by participating in the CRRC or by specifying cool roofs.

For more information on the CRRC, please visit our website, www.coolroofs.org, or contact us directly at (866) 465-2523 or [email protected]. For more information on PG&E’s rebate program, please visit www.pge.com.