Homeowners in the market for a new roof have always had a reason to consider metal roofing for its environmental benefits. Now, they have even greater incentive to choose a steel or aluminum roofing product to protect their home.

Metal roofing has long been a green product. Metal roofs, for the most part, are produced from steel or aluminum that has already been recycled. They last far longer than asphalt shingles or similar products. And when the time finally comes when a metal roof must be replaced, the material is 100 percent recyclable.

Now, recent innovations in paint chemistries have made the coatings applied to metal coils before they are made into roofing panels even more environmentally friendly. Several years ago, chemical company BASF led the paint industry in the development of new pigments with additional heat-reflective properties.

“They reflect off a significant amount of the heat that comes from the sun,” explains William Hippard, president of the Metal Roofing Alliance. “You can save anywhere from 25 to 45 percent off your air conditioning bills in the summertime, because that’s how significant it is to lower the amount of heat that comes into your attic.”

The reflective properties of the new paints aren’t limited to lighter colors. Cool metal roofs reflect sunlight even in the darker shades. And the benefits are not lost during the colder months. An air pocket forms between the decking and the metal that acts as an insulator to keep heat in during the winter, Hippard says.

Metal roofing has been widely used in nonresidential construction, where builders of commercial and office space had already accepted the life-cycle cost advantages of the product even before cool coatings were introduced. But converting homebuilders and homeowners to the benefits of metal roofing—buyers for whom short-term costs and aesthetics play a bigger role in purchasing decisions–has been a tougher sell. But progress has been made on both those fronts. The opportunities available for prepainted metal roofs go well beyond a simple array of colors.

“If you like Cedar Shakes, you can get a metal roof that looks like Cedar Shakes. If you like clay tile, you can get one that looks that way, or one that looks like asphalt shingles,” says Hippard.

Historically, converting residential buyers has been hampered by the upfront costs of metal roofs, which are about 40-60 percent higher than traditional roofing materials. But some of those short-term cost hurdles have been mitigated through a $1,500 tax rebate to homeowners who put a cool metal roof on their residences.