Roof Colors
Pick Your Roof Color
Browse color options for the two roofing materials we install most.
Metal roof colors and heat
Compare two metal roof colors on a Texas summer afternoon
Pick two BioGreen metal colors. The calculator estimates how hot each roof surface runs in Georgetown’s July sun, how much more heat the darker one pushes through your ceiling, and a rough yearly cooling-cost range from published studies. Everything runs in your browser.
- Zincalume Plus+SRI 64
- Winter WhiteSRI 88
- Light StoneSRI 70
- Desert BeigeSRI 58
- TaupeSRI 53
- Patina SteelSRI 38
- Chestnut BrownSRI 36(selected)
- Canyon RedSRI 45
- Rustic RedSRI 43
- Old Town GraySRI 43
- Old Zinc GraySRI 43
- Weathered CopperSRI 32
- Slate GraySRI 32
- Tahoe BlueSRI 33
- EvergladeSRI 35
- Denali GreenSRI 29
- Forest GreenSRI 36
- Copper PennySRI 33
- Natural Rust(premium)SRI 32
- Zincalume Plus+SRI 64
- Winter WhiteSRI 88
- Light StoneSRI 70(selected)
- Desert BeigeSRI 58
- TaupeSRI 53
- Patina SteelSRI 38
- Chestnut BrownSRI 36
- Canyon RedSRI 45
- Rustic RedSRI 43
- Old Town GraySRI 43
- Old Zinc GraySRI 43
- Weathered CopperSRI 32
- Slate GraySRI 32
- Tahoe BlueSRI 33
- EvergladeSRI 35
- Denali GreenSRI 29
- Forest GreenSRI 36
- Copper PennySRI 33
- Natural Rust(premium)SRI 32
Color A
Chestnut Brown
- SRI (heat)
- 36
- LRV (look)
- 12
- Solar refl.*
- 0.35
Modeled roof surface, peak sun
Peak heat through the ceiling (upper bound)
Color B
Light Stone
- SRI (heat)
- 70
- LRV (look)
- 53
- Solar refl.*
- 0.60
Modeled roof surface, peak sun
Peak heat through the ceiling (upper bound)
On a clear Central Texas summer afternoon, Light Stone is modeled to run about 24°F cooler on its surface than Chestnut Brown, and to let up to about 30% less peak heat through your ceiling at R-19.
Rough yearly cooling-cost difference for 2,000 sq ft of roof: $24 to $57 (middle estimate $44), from 152 to 361 kWh. A range from published cool-roof studies, not a bill prediction.
Color is one factor. Attic insulation, ventilation, a radiant barrier, where the ducts run and the age of your air conditioner often matter as much or more, and savings from color alone can be modest.
Your house
How this is calculated
- SRI to reflectance. The chart gives SRI, not solar reflectance. ASTM E1980 defines SRI from how hot a sunlit surface runs between a standard black (SRI 0) and a standard white (SRI 100) under 1,000 W/m² of sun, 310 K air, a 300 K sky and a 12 W/m²K medium wind. We run that heat balance backwards to get each color’s solar reflectance, assuming a thermal emittance of 0.83 for painted colors and 0.3 for bare Zincalume Plus+, the values the Cool Roof Rating Council directory lists for comparable products.
- Roof temperature. The same balance, solved for a clear July afternoon in Georgetown: 1,026 W/m² of sun (the peak July hour in typical-year NSRDB data), 95.9 °F air (the NOAA July normal high at Georgetown Lake), a sky 10 K cooler than the air, as in E1980, and a medium wind. Roof direction changes the sun on the slope: mixed or not sure 1,026 W/m², mostly south 1,000 W/m², mostly east or west 1,020 W/m², mostly north 864 W/m². Like E1980, it assumes no heat escapes through the back of the roof, so absolute temperatures run a little high; the difference between two colors is the useful number.
- Heat through the ceiling. Peak heat flow through your attic insulation is the temperature difference divided by its R-value, with the attic taken at the roof’s surface temperature and the room at 75.2 °F. A ventilated attic runs cooler than the roof, so this is an upper bound. More insulation shrinks the absolute number; it doesn’t change which color is cooler.
- Yearly range. Published house simulations for Texas climates find that cooling savings grow with the change in solar reflectance and roof area and shrink roughly as 1/R (Levinson & Akbari). We carry savings × R from three of them: low 82 (LBNL 1998, Fort Worth, R-19), central 151 (LBNL Cool Surface Savings database, Houston, zone 2A) and high 195 (FSEC/LBNL 1998, Fort Worth, R-30, ducts in the attic), in kWh·R per m² of roof per 1.0 change in reflectance. Insulation below R-11 is computed at R-11, the lowest the studies cover. Electricity is scaled by 10 ÷ your SEER (10, 13, 14, 14.3, 18 for the tiers; federal standards), 10 being the efficiency of the one study that states it. Dollars are kWh × your rate; the default is the EIA Texas residential average, 15.91 ¢/kWh for August 2026. All three studies are simulations. Roof direction isn’t applied to the yearly range, and the winter heating penalty a lighter roof can carry (DOE) isn’t subtracted, so the range is for cooling only.
What this leaves out. Attic ventilation, radiant barriers, where the ducts run, shade from trees, air leaks and how your thermostat is set. The Department of Energy says savings depend on climate, how well the roof assembly is insulated, the roof type and the efficiency of your heating and cooling. Treat every number here as a comparison between two colors, not a forecast of your bill.
Screens aren’t paint. Swatches here are approximate on-screen colors; request a physical sample. Ask us for Chestnut Brown and Light Stone.
Request free samples and a quote* Solar reflectance is not on the chart; it is worked back from the published SRI under the stated emittance assumption. SRI and LRV are as published on the BioGreen color chart.
Reading the chart
SRI is the heat number. LRV is the look.
Color charts, ours included, print LRV right next to SRI, and it’s easy to read them as two ways of saying how much sun a roof turns away. They aren’t. One describes the look; the other describes the heat.
LRV: the look
Light Reflectance Value measures visible light only: how light or dark the color looks to your eye. Only visible light affects color, and about half of the sun’s energy arrives as invisible near-infrared, according to Berkeley Lab.
SRI: the heat
Solar Reflectance Index rolls the whole sun (ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared) together with how well the surface sheds heat, and says how hot it runs between a standard black (0) and a standard white (100), per ASTM E1980. For heat, compare SRI.
- Forest Green has the chart’s lowest LRV, 8, yet an SRI of 36. Berkeley Lab notes that cool-colored dark roofs look like traditional dark roofs but reflect more near-infrared light, which is how a dark color can score better on heat than on looks.
- Canyon Red (LRV 16) carries an SRI of 45, higher than Old Town Gray (LRV 27) and Old Zinc Gray (LRV 22), which both look lighter and score 43.
- Zincalume Plus+ runs the other way: LRV 67 but SRI 64. Bare metal-coated steel sheds heat poorly by radiation (low emittance), so it runs warmer than its brightness suggests; the Department of Energy notes unpainted metal gets hotter in the sun than painted metal of similar reflectance.
BioGreen metal colors
Nineteen colors, coolest first
SRI and LRV as published on the BioGreen color chart. “July roof” is the calculator’s modeled surface temperature on a clear Georgetown July afternoon.
Approximate on-screen color; request a physical sample.
Winter White
- SRI
- 88
- LRV
- 74
- July roof
- 119°F
Light Stone
- SRI
- 70
- LRV
- 53
- July roof
- 132°F
Zincalume Plus+
- SRI
- 64
- LRV
- 67
- July roof
- 136°F
Desert Beige
- SRI
- 58
- LRV
- 39
- July roof
- 140°F
Taupe
- SRI
- 53
- LRV
- 28
- July roof
- 143°F
Canyon Red
- SRI
- 45
- LRV
- 16
- July roof
- 149°F
Rustic Red
- SRI
- 43
- LRV
- 13
- July roof
- 150°F
Old Town Gray
- SRI
- 43
- LRV
- 27
- July roof
- 150°F
Old Zinc Gray
- SRI
- 43
- LRV
- 22
- July roof
- 150°F
Patina Steel
- SRI
- 38
- LRV
- 17
- July roof
- 154°F
Chestnut Brown
- SRI
- 36
- LRV
- 12
- July roof
- 155°F
Forest Green
- SRI
- 36
- LRV
- 8
- July roof
- 155°F
Everglade
- SRI
- 35
- LRV
- 19
- July roof
- 156°F
Tahoe Blue
- SRI
- 33
- LRV
- 14
- July roof
- 157°F
Copper Penny
- SRI
- 33
- LRV
- 28
- July roof
- 157°F
Weathered Copper
- SRI
- 32
- LRV
- 11
- July roof
- 158°F
Slate Gray
- SRI
- 32
- LRV
- 13
- July roof
- 158°F
Natural Rustpremium
- SRI
- 32
- LRV
- 10
- July roof
- 158°F
Denali Green
- SRI
- 29
- LRV
- 11
- July roof
- 160°F
Sources and last checked
Where the facts on this page come from
Each source was checked on the date shown.
Manufacturer data
BioGreen metal roof color chartE4 Roofing & Construction / Bio Green
Used for: Every color's name, SRI and LRV, as published by the manufacturer, and the premium note on Natural Rust.
On-screen swatches are sampled from the chart image and are approximate; request a physical sample.
Checked October 25, 2026
Research
ASTM E1980, Standard Practice for Calculating Solar Reflectance Index of Horizontal and Low-Sloped Opaque Surfaces (2001 edition)ASTM International (open copy hosted by NeoTech Coatings)
Used for: The SRI definition: the standard black (solar reflectance 0.05, emittance 0.90) and white (0.80, 0.90) surfaces, the reference conditions (1,000 W/m², 310 K air, 300 K sky, convection 5, 12 and 30 W/m²K) and the surface heat balance the calculator inverts.
The current edition (E1980-11) is paywalled; the CRRC document below confirms the same black and white references.
Checked October 25, 2026
Research
SRI calculator spreadsheet (SRI-calc10.xls)Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Heat Island Group (listed by DOE's Building America Solution Center)
Used for: A check on our implementation: it reproduces the spreadsheet's worked example (SRI 83.57 for reflectance 0.70, emittance 0.80).
Checked October 25, 2026
Industry data
Understanding the Solar Reflectance Index: A Calculated ValueCool Roof Rating Council, updated April 2024
Used for: That SRI is calculated from solar reflectance and thermal emittance per ASTM E1980, against standard white (100) and standard black (0).
Checked October 25, 2026
Industry data
Rated Roof Products Directory (full export)Cool Roof Rating Council
Used for: The emittance assumptions: 0.83 for comparable SMP-painted metal, and 0.30 with solar reflectance 0.68 (SRI 64) for a rated Zincalume Plus product when new.
CRRC lists that Zincalume Plus product lower after three years of weathering (SRI 46). The calculator uses values for a new roof.
Checked October 25, 2026
Research
Cool Science: Cool RoofsLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Heat Island Group
Used for: That only visible light affects color, that about half of the sun's energy is invisible near-infrared, and that cool-colored dark roofs reflect more of it.
Undated page.
Checked October 25, 2026
Research
Advances in measuring solar reflectance (talk)Ronnen Levinson, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, June 30, 2009
Used for: Solar reflectance weighs ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared reflectance at about 6.6%, 44.7% and 48.7%.
Checked October 25, 2026
Federal agency
PVWatts v8 hourly typical-year run for Georgetown (NSRDB PSM v3 TMY)National Laboratory of the Rockies developer API (developer.nlr.gov; PVWatts previously ran at developer.nrel.gov)
Used for: Peak July sun: 1,026 W/m² on a flat surface; at a 6:12 pitch, 1,000 facing south, 1,020 west and 864 north. Also a July mean daily high of 35.9 °C in the same typical-year data.
Typical-year data, not a design extreme. Run for 30.6334, -97.6719; the nearest data cell is about 1.3 miles away.
Checked October 25, 2026
Federal agency
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020, Georgetown Lake (USC00413507)NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
Used for: The July normal daily high, 95.9 °F, used as the summer afternoon air temperature.
Checked October 25, 2026
Research
Cool Surface Savings database (Savings Explorer), from Solar-Reflective “Cool” Walls (LBNL-2001296, 2019)Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, linked from EPA's cool roofs page
Used for: The central yearly estimate: Houston (climate zone 2A) single-family homes, cooling electricity saved per m² of roof per unit of solar reflectance, 12.1, 6.1 and 3.9 kWh at roof R-values of 13.3, 27.3 and 32.4; and the 24.0 °C cooling setpoint.
Simulated (EnergyPlus). No Austin row; Houston stands in for zone 2A.
Checked October 25, 2026
Research
The Impact of Reflectivity and Emissivity of Roofs on Building Cooling and Heating Energy UseAkbari & Konopacki, LBNL, Thermal Envelopes VII, 1998
Used for: The low end of the yearly range (Fort Worth new house, R-19, 4.3 kWh per m² per unit reflectance), and that savings depend on climate and roof insulation.
Simulated (DOE-2). Its dollar figures use 1990s prices and aren't used.
Checked October 25, 2026
Research
Measured and Simulated Performance of Reflective Roofing Systems in Residential Buildings (FSEC-PF-331-98)Parker, Huang, Konopacki, Gartland, Sherwin & Gu, ASHRAE Transactions 104(1), 1998
Used for: The high end of the yearly range (Fort Worth new house, R-30, attic ducts, SEER 10, about 6.5 kWh per m² per unit reflectance), the SEER 10 reference, and that savings vary with insulation, duct location, ventilation and air conditioner size.
Simulated with an attic-duct model; its measured retrofits were in Florida.
Checked October 25, 2026
Research
Potential benefits of cool roofs on commercial buildingsLevinson & Akbari, Energy Efficiency 3:53–109, 2010
Used for: The method's scaling: savings roughly proportional to the change in reflectance, roof area and solar resource, and inversely to the roof's R-value.
A commercial-building study; only its scaling relationship is used.
Checked October 25, 2026
Research
Comparative Evaluation of the Impact of Roofing Systems on Residential Cooling Energy Demand in FloridaParker, Sonne & Sherwin, FSEC, ACEEE Summer Study 2002
Used for: Side-by-side measured homes: white reflective roofs cut cooling energy 18–26%, and white metal had the best cooling performance, helped by cooling off faster at night.
Measured in Fort Myers, Florida, not Texas. Context only; not used in the yearly range.
Checked October 25, 2026
Federal agency
Cool Roofs (Energy Saver)U.S. Department of Energy (archived copy of June 18, 2026)
Used for: That conventional roofs can reach 150 °F or more and a reflective roof can stay more than 50 °F cooler; that savings depend on climate, insulation, roof type and HVAC efficiency; that cool roofs can carry a winter heating penalty; and that unpainted metal gets hotter in the sun than painted metal of similar reflectance.
The live page returned 404 when checked, so the archived copy is linked.
Checked October 25, 2026
Federal agency
Recommended Home Insulation R-ValuesENERGY STAR (U.S. EPA)
Used for: Climate zone 2 attic recommendations: R-49 for an uninsulated attic, R-38 where 3–4 inches already exist.
Checked October 25, 2026
Federal agency
Guide to Determining Climate Regions by County (PNNL-17211 Rev. 3)PNNL for U.S. DOE Building America, August 2015
Used for: Williamson County as hot-humid climate zone 2A.
Based on the 2012 IECC climate map.
Checked October 25, 2026
Federal agency
10 CFR 430.32(c), central air conditioner energy conservation standards; 69 FR (August 17, 2004)U.S. Department of Energy (eCFR; Federal Register)
Used for: The air conditioner tiers: 13 SEER from January 23, 2006 (up from 10); 14 SEER in Texas from 2015 through 2022; 14.3 SEER2 for split systems under 45,000 Btu/h in the Southeast, which includes Texas, from 2023.
Checked October 25, 2026
Federal agency
Energy conversion calculatorsU.S. Energy Information Administration
Used for: 1 kWh = 3,412 Btu, used with SEER (Btu per watt-hour) to relate cooling load to electricity.
Checked October 25, 2026
Federal agency
Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A (August 2026)U.S. Energy Information Administration, released October 23, 2026
Used for: The default electric rate: Texas residential average, 15.91 ¢/kWh in August 2026.
Your own bill's rate is better; change it in the calculator.
Checked October 25, 2026