Degraded working conditions
On the shop floor, temperatures become hard to bear during heat peaks, with a direct impact on productivity.
Cool roof for industrial buildings
Cool roof for industrial buildings
Cut the heat under the roof, relieve air conditioning and extend the waterproofing — without interrupting your production.
-7 to -10°C
under the roof
up to -40%
on cooling
+8 to 20 yrs
waterproofing life
Why act
Heat directly penalises
your industrial buildings.
Under an exposed roof, heat builds up, degrades working conditions, overloads equipment and accelerates the ageing of the waterproofing.
Rising energy use
Air conditioning, ventilation and process cooling climb as the roof reaches 70-80°C.
Overworked equipment
Chillers, AHUs and technical systems run in overdrive and wear out faster.
Weakened waterproofing
A roof exposed to UV and thermal swings ages faster: replacement is looming.
The common cause: a dark roof that absorbs heat instead of reflecting it.
The Covalba solution
Your roof reflects
instead of heating up.
A dark roof absorbs radiation and exceeds 70-80°C at the surface. The Covalba cool roof coating sends back up to 90% of solar radiation: the roof heats up less and transmits less heat into the building.
Conventional roof
up to 80°Cat the surface
- Dark surface
- Absorbs heat
- Strains air conditioning
Cool roof
up to 90%of radiation reflected
- Light-colored surface
- Stays cooler
- Reduces the thermal load
- Passive solution, no energy consumption
- Applied from the outside, no production downtime
- Compatible with bitumen, steel deck, membrane, fiber cement
- Durable systems, 8 to 20 years of service life
The real question: how much does a coating cost if you have to redo it after 2 to 5 years?
Durability
The Covalba system
lasts longer on your roofs.
On a roof of several thousand m², the price per m² isn't enough: you have to count service life, retained reflectivity and the risk of redoing it too soon.
Standard acrylic coating
Low cost to apply
Price per m²
~€10
Service life
2-5 years
Over 10 years
€25-30
- Reflectivity drops quickly
- Chalking and yellowing
- More frequent reapplication
Covalba polyurethane system
Performance built to last
Price per m²
€18-20
Service life
8-10 years
Over 10 years
€18-20
- Durable polyurethane resin
- Anti-UV finishing varnish
- Reflectivity retained longer
Polyurethane systems with an anti-UV finishing topcoat are designed to keep their performance 8 to 20 years while protecting the roof.
Funding & support
Some schemes can fund part of your works.
Industrial buildings are not eligible for the French CEE BAT-EN-112 subsidy (reserved for commercial tertiary buildings), but other schemes exist depending on your activity.
Regions
renovation and decarbonation grants depending on your region
ADEME
schemes linked to industrial energy efficiency
€20-25/m²
vs €80 to €150/m² to redo the waterproofing
ROI < 2 yrs
on air-conditioned or process-cooling sites
Available levers depend on your activity, your ICPE classification and your region. Covalba helps you identify them before quoting.
What you gain
Less heat, more performance.
Cool roof acts on the main source of heat: the roof. The benefits show from the first summer.
From the first summer
-7 to -10°C
under your roof
Lower temperature
The roof heats up less, even under strong solar exposure.
Relieved cooling
Refrigeration and ventilation equipment is less heavily loaded.
Staff comfort
More stable working conditions on the shop floor in summer.
Extended waterproofing
The coating protects the substrate from UV and delays replacement.
ESG performance
A passive solution to cut the site's thermal load and footprint.
Beyond comfort, here is how cool roof adapts to each type of site.
Your buildings
A solution for every exposed industrial site.
Production, food industry, chemicals, storage or metallurgy: thermal control is critical for comfort, production and energy.
Production01
Production plants
Control heat in production areas and protect output rates.
Food02
Food industry
Relieve refrigeration equipment and stabilise ambient conditions.
Chemicals03
Chemicals & plastics
Limit the thermal load on sensitive processes.
Warehouses04
Technical hangars & warehouses
Reduce the heating of large volumes.
Metallurgy05
Metallurgy & foundry
Avoid adding roof heat to already hot processes.
The next question: how to intervene without disrupting operations?
A safe site
4 steps. Production preserved.
Everything happens from the outside, machines at the foot of the building, with no load on the roof and no disruption to production or certifications.
Step 01
Diagnosis
Assessment of the roof, substrate condition, access and your thermal goals.
Step 02
Preparation
High-pressure cleaning, securing and preparing the substrate to ensure adhesion.
Step 03
Safe application
Continuous spray application of the coating, from the outside, with site-adapted logistics.
Step 04
Control & follow-up
Verification of application quality and ongoing support over time.
Average duration: 3 to 5 days · No activity downtime
Concrete results
Proof
from the roof.
Surface temperature readings, equipped industrial sites and operator feedback. Proof from the roof, not from the pitch.
-7 to -10°C
on the roof surface temperature
up to -40%
on cooling needs
8-20 yrs
of coating service life
Before launching your project, here are the most common questions.
FAQ
Your questions,
our answers.
The questions most often raised by industrial site managers.
Another question? Let's talkIndustrial cool roof
Make your industrial roof work smarter.
Request your cool roof quote and discover the savings potential of your industrial building. Free technical study.
- Tailored study within 48h
- No commitment
- Recognised technical expertise
Industry dossier
Cool roof for industrial buildings: why treating your roof changes everything.
In industry, summer heat weighs on productivity, on the energy bill of air-conditioned or refrigerated sites, and on the lifespan of the waterproofing.
Why industrial buildings overheat in summer
A large flat roof, often bituminous or dark steel deck, absorbs most of the radiation and exceeds 80°C at the surface before transmitting that heat to the workshops, where machine heat adds up.
The cool roof principle, validated by research
A reflective roof combines high solar reflectance and high emissivity: it sends back the radiation received and releases residual heat instead of storing it. A passive cooling documented by public laboratories.
Working comfort and productivity
A non-air-conditioned workshop can exceed 40°C under the roof during heatwaves. By lowering the temperature by 7 to 10°C, cool roof restores acceptable working conditions, with no major works.
Controlling the bill on air-conditioned sites
When a site is air-conditioned or has process cooling, an overheated roof makes the units run in overdrive. Cool roof reduces the load on refrigeration equipment, up to 40% savings depending on the setup.
Extend the waterproofing instead of replacing it
By protecting the substrate from UV and thermal shocks, the coating extends the life of the waterproofing. Redoing waterproofing costs €80 to €150/m²; a cool roof is around €20-25/m².
A coating that lasts, on large surfaces
Low-end acrylic solutions lose their reflectivity in 2 to 5 years. Covalba polyurethane systems last 8 to 20 years while keeping their performance.
Sources
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Heat Island Group, Cool Roofs. https://heatisland.lbl.gov/coolscience/cool-roofs
- U.S. EPA, Using Cool Roofs to Reduce Heat Islands. https://www.epa.gov/heatislands/using-cool-roofs-reduce-heat-islands
- ADEME, urban heat islands and passive cooling. https://www.ademe.fr