A number of roof products can make your house stand out above the rest. Innovative roofing materials and products can make your house unique, and in some cases can even offer energy savings.

Specialty Roof Insulation Products

There are a number of roof insulation products that will help make your house more environmentally friendly. These include:

• Recycled cellulose fiber: Made from newspaper and other recycled paper products, these roof insulation products are treated to make them fire retardant, and repel household pests. This home roof insulation material also blocks outside noise.
• Recycled denim: Similar to the recycled cellulose fiber, this roof insulation material is made from recycled denim and cotton waste. It also keeps vermin away, and is easier to apply, as it comes in rolls.
• Sheep’s wool insulation: Sheep wool is considered the best, though most expensive, type of home roof insulation. It is unaffected by moisture, flame-retardant, insulates well against sound, requires no adhesives, traps toxic material, can be composted, and has other eco-friendly qualities.
• Soy insulation: Long lasting and fire resistant, this material is made from soybean oil, and can be sprayed into the home roof area, where it hardens and fills cracks.

Metal Roofing Options: Copper

Metal roofing can offer a unique look for your home. Copper is among the most durable specialty roofing materials, and can make your home roof stand out. Copper metal roofing has been known to last hundreds of years, and is relatively lightweight and easy to transport. Copper metal roofing doesn’t insulate against sound well, however, and needs special care to allow for expansion in hot weather and contraction in cold.

Environmentally Friendly Add-Ons for Specialty Roofs

Two of the most popular products to be installed in or on your home roof are skylights and solar panels. Both are environmentally friendly roof products, and provide your house with a sense of uniqueness.

Placing skylights on your home roof will allow you to cut down on electricity, as it allows more natural light to enter your house. It can also be used to add air ventilation. You don’t want to place the window in a high sun area, however. This will heat the home unnecessarily and the extra cooling costs will outweigh any savings from using less electricity for light. This is especially true in warmer climates.

Solar panels can be used either to heat water, as with solar water geysers, or to directly produce electricity. Either type of solar panel will lessen energy consumption. These specialty roof products will become ever more popular in roof designs in the future, especially with rising energy costs. Solar panels should be placed where the home roof is most exposed to the sun year-round. In the northern hemisphere, this is usually a south-facing surface.