I've decided to get solar panels on my roof, and these panels last 25-30 years at least. Because it's a huge amount of work (and money) to install panels on the roof, I didn't want to have to do it twice (when replacing the roof in a few years). So I bit the bullet and had the roof replaced.
So how can I get an eco-friendly roof? Well, I live in a very sunny desert and my attic gets to about 135 F during hot sunny days in the summer (I measured it). This, in turn, warms my home. I can mitigate this effect by installing shingles that reflect more of the sunlight. There are now EPA-certified "cool roof" shingles that have a higher albedo (reflectance) so that the house heats up slower during the day. These tiles are a bit more expensive, but my city offers rebates for these types of shingles that basically offsets the increase in costs. I don't really know why they're more expensive, as I think most the increase in albedo is due to being a lighter color.
Another thing I can do is to increase ventilation in my attic. Obviously any ventilation during the day is a good thing as it is much hotter in my attic then it is outside. There was only one vent at the top of my roof for the heat to escape from, and it was way off to the side of the house. I had the roofer install two additional vents distributed evenly across the roof.
And it all worked. The highest temperature my attic reached after the new roof installation was 122 F, and it cooled down much quicker after the sun went down. I suspect the vents have more to do with this than the cool roof shingles. The reflectance of the cool roof shingles only have to be greater than 25%, so not that much. If you want much higher reflectance, like > 40%, you need whitish-grey colors.
Anyway, it looks great. Take a look at the pictures below. The color is pretty light. You can compare to my neighbor's roof.
Next up: Solar power.
