Why Do The Houses In Bermuda Have White Roofs

By 1687 only 29 of the 579 houses in bermuda had been upgraded to stone and only 63 were shingled.

Why do the houses in bermuda have white roofs.

When you pull into the royal navy dockyard you ll be treated to hills filled with the white roofs of bermuda. Commonly referred to as cool roofing it has received a stamp of approval from the state of california which has adopted its use in its building codes. Why houses in bermuda have white stepped roofs ucl news ucl university college london. Roofs with a purpose.

The earliest roofing was made of palmetto thatch but partially from encouragement from the colonial government stone shingles slowly came to be preferred. 1 as a way to keep the inside of the house cool in our very hot summers. Professor henrietta moore ucl institute for global prosperity comments on how white stepped roofs in bermuda are designed to harvest rain. By law every house must collect 80 percent of the water that falls on its roof.

A british visitor to bermuda will feel instantly at home even if the weather is far warmer and sunnier than anything imaginable on the british isles. White or reflective roofs have been in use for the past 15 years. Sometimes a unique environment coupled with scarcity results in beautiful solutions. Why houses in bermuda have white stepped roofs.

For each square foot of roof space all houses must have eight gallons of tank space. We have white roofs for 2 main reasons. The secret is in the design of their houses and particularly the white stepped roof which is still in use 400 years after it was first introduced. The buildings were originally quite plain due to the brittleness of limestone and lingering puritanical asceticism.

As a result bermuda s roofs have evolved over four centuries to do two things. Green building council and has been mandated by government officials in chicago. Did you also know that these white roofs have a beneficial environmental impact. Along with the gorgeous shoreline one of the first things you ll notice as you fly into bermuda are the brilliant white rooftops.

They re not just for show. Just like the blue and white houses in santorini you re hit with a certain aesthetic feel but did you know that the scarcity of fresh water has made them a necessity. Bermuda is set upon porous limestone and wells often yielded brackish or salt water. 2 when it rains we have pipes that connect from the roof top and run down into an underground tank.

The whitewashed roofs have a tremendous and positive. Protect houses against gale force winds and funnel whatever the heavens rain down into large cisterns that feed household taps. By harry low bbc news.