About Us
American Rooftile Coatings (ARC) was founded by Joseph C. Reilly in April 2000. Its purpose was to supply environmentally safe coatings used to restore color of aged concrete tile roofs. ARC developed a process to restore color to such roofs and trained a few dozen applicators to pursue and expand this market. Roof refuse represents 12% American landfill waste. The maximum volume at that time for restoration of old tile roofs was conservatively estimated at $10 billion in the USA. This value was based on a price of $1.00 per square foot for restoration of roofs 15 years old available in 2000. Today the market valuation of concrete tile roof restoration is estimated at $20 billion at $1.50 per square foot and it grows every year.
In 2001 Cooltile IR Coatings™ were developed by ARC under a PIER/EISG grant provided by California Energy Commission (CEC) and tested by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The collaborative study demonstrated that a number of Cooltile IR Coatings™ save energy. They are now registered with the Cool Roof Rating Council. These coatings exceed 40% solar reflectance, the gold standard of cool steep-pitched roof coatings. These coatings are listed with EPA and are Energy Star rated. This study was published in 'eco-structure' journal. This technology can be adapted to other roof surfaces, e.g. composition shingle, clay tile corrugated steel built-up-roofing, etc.
The pigments used in ARC's coatings are very durable metal oxides such as titanium dioxide and iron oxides. The new Cooltile IR Coatings™ use mixed metal oxide pigments which were developed for the US Army to use in camouflage coatings. The purpose was to defeat night vision goggles by using pigments which more closely matched pigments found in nature, e.g. chlorophyll. These pigments are fired to provide a ceramic surface and are very durable. The resin used in ARC's coating is 100% acrylic polymer. Acrylics are well known for excellent exterior durability. Exterior weathering studies of such coating systems have exceeded 40 year exposure in a freeze-thaw climate over cement-asbestos shingle in a south 45 degree setting. The five step process ARC promotes includes a high pressure power-wash, a first down penetrating binder, a color coat and a gloss topcoat. With CEC support, ARC conducted studies with Oak Ridge National Laboratory on houses using remote temperature sensors and under controlled condition. The Fort Irwin study demonstrated a 36% electricity savings for houses coated with ARC's Cooltile IR Coatings™ for July and August of 2008 and 2009. This study was reviewed in a New York Time's front page article July 30, 2009 by Felicity Barringer. PG&E electric power provider in the Bay area, offers rebates for roofs coated with Cooltile IR Coatings™.
