Primary references and their limits.

The source list below names the actual references consulted for the guide. The DOI-free government PDFs and association article provide background, not current local requirements. Links are informational citations only, not commercial or referral placements.

The 2010 selection guide and 2021-posted consumer PDF support basic material, reflectance and emittance concepts. Their older program, incentive, cost and threshold statements are intentionally not adopted. The 2014 asphalt-shingle research page is historical research context, not a current product catalog.

  1. DOE Consumer Guide to Cool Roofs (2021-posted PDF)

    Definitions of solar reflectance and thermal emittance; building/climate context only.

  2. DOE Guidelines for Selecting Cool Roofs (July 2010 PDF)

    Basic roof material families, layers, surface properties and distinction from insulation only.

  3. NRCA Guidance for homeowners (October 2020 article PDF)

    Named system components, homeowner education and professional help. Only article pages22-23 used; adjacent unrelated news/advertisements excluded.

  4. DOE Building America: Gutters and Downspouts

    Connected roof runoff, gutters/downspouts, exterior interfaces and discharge concepts only; no instructions, sizing or compliance adopted.

  5. DOE Cool Asphalt Shingles (June 15, 2014)

    Historical research context only; no current product or savings claims.

How the chapters use the references.

Roof materials
DOE material-family descriptions introduce shingles, metal, tile and low-slope surfaces. No material is ranked.
Roof systems
DOE distinguishes material layers and insulation. NRCA names components and the value of homeowner education and professional assessment.
Water and drainage
The Building America guide supports the connected collection, transition and discharge vocabulary. Its installation and compliance instructions are not reproduced.
Cool roofs
DOE definitions distinguish solar reflectance, thermal emittance and building context. No quantified outcome is promised.
Question sheet
The prompts are original editorial discussion aids based on those concepts, not an official form.

Photo credits.

Each photograph below has its own source page and image-specific rights record. Wikimedia’s general structured-data license is not used as the photograph’s license. The selected rights basis comes from the actual file licensing information.

CC0 and public-domain examples still receive clear creator credits here. Resized copies retain the subject and natural proportions. No outside image is presented as our work, and no credit implies a photographer or agency endorses the guide.

Brown standing-seam metal roof seen above a house, with a curved roof transition.
Standing-seam metal roof on a house, with a curved transition between roof planes. Outside example, not our work. Wikideas1 / photo source · CC0 1.0. Resized WebP, no crop.

Changes and reuse: Resized and re-encoded WebP; metadata removed; no editorial crop. The image copies are available under CC0 1.0. No photographer or agency endorsement is implied.

Image-specific source page · Rights reference · Download the resized WebP example

Wide shallow close-up of raised standing seams on a brown metal roof.
Close-up of standing seams above the roof edge. Texture example only, not evidence of a cool-roof rating. Wikideas1 / photo source · CC0 1.0. Resized WebP, no crop.

Changes and reuse: Resized and re-encoded WebP; metadata removed; no editorial crop. The image copies are available under CC0 1.0. No photographer or agency endorsement is implied.

Image-specific source page · Rights reference · Download the resized WebP example

Exposed timber roof frame above historic stone walls, with a telehandler and construction fence.
Warfield House roof restoration: timber framing and a telehandler in a historic preservation project. NPS example, not a Guerrero project or endorsement. NPS Photo / photo source · U.S. public domain, federal employee work. Resized WebP, no crop.

Changes and reuse: Resized and re-encoded WebP; metadata removed; no editorial crop. The image copies are available under U.S. public domain, federal employee work. No photographer or agency endorsement is implied.

Image-specific source page · Rights reference · Download the resized WebP example

Rusted metal gutter with visible holes beneath overlapping roof shingles.
Rusted gutter at a historic gymnasium before repair, from an NPS collection. An existing-component example, not a healthy installation or our work. NPS Photo / photo source · U.S. public domain, federal employee work. Resized WebP, no crop.

Changes and reuse: Resized and re-encoded WebP; metadata removed; no editorial crop. The image copies are available under U.S. public domain, federal employee work. No photographer or agency endorsement is implied.

Image-specific source page · Rights reference · Download the resized WebP example

Close view across gray granular roof shingles in overlapping courses, with a few fallen leaves.
Overlapping courses on a granular asphalt-shingle roof surface. Photo: Fastily, Shingle roof 1 2017-06-14, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized and converted to WebP; shared under the same license. Fastily / photo source · CC BY-SA 4.0.

Changes and reuse: Resized and re-encoded WebP; metadata removed; no editorial crop. The image copies are available under CC BY-SA 4.0. No photographer or agency endorsement is implied.

Image-specific source page · Rights reference · Download the resized WebP example

Read with the right expectations.

If a source discusses professional installation, inspection or compliance, that does not make this guide a how-to or a code reference. Use the vocabulary to ask a qualified local professional for a building-specific explanation.

No source provides personal project approval. The About page explains the independent and AI-assisted status of this guide, and the question sheet offers a practical way to organize a conversation.