Copper - A "Green" Building Material

Copper Bay Window Cover by The Metal Shoppe

Copper products for your home, such as exterior roof sheet metal, i.e. crickets, valley, etc.; actual copper roofs, bay window covers such as what is in the image here, would be considered "green" building products in that copper is environmentally friendly with an extremely high recycle rate, actually one of the highest of any of the construction/engineering metals. Hence, the high theft rate of late...... Copper is not typically thrown out in the weekly trash bin. It can all be recycled at your local recycle yard.

Some interesting bits of Copper Recycling Trivia:

• Each year in this country, nearly as much copper is recovered from recycled material as is derived from newly mined ore.
• Copper tube and sheet products can be recycled over and over with no loss of their engineering properties.
• The recycling of copper requires only 15% of the total energy otherwise consumed in mining, milling, smelting and refining.

Copper also has a high life span with some estimating an exterior copper roof lasting 100 years or more. Compared to traditional asphalt shingles having anywhere from a 15-30 year life span, this is quite impressive.

The Historic Christ Church in Philadelphia carries the oldest known copper roof in North America, dating back to 1727.

And speaking of copper longevity, everyone knows the Statue of Liberty, which is also the largest copper repousse sculpture in North America. This sculpture was formed in 1884 from over 160,000 pounds of thick 3/32" copper sheet. She still stands, though the steel structure supporting the copper has since had to be replaced with stainless steel due to corrosion.

Part of the longevity is attributed to the corrosion process that happens with copper, which is commonly referred to as "patina." Out in the elements, copper will take on either a verde green coloration (most common in the Coastal areas or high pollution areas over in Europe) or more inland, it tends to turn more of a dark brown similar to the color of an old penny. You can see how the copper has turned in the photo provided here. This window cover was installed as bright new copper and was simply allowed to turn in the natural elements over time.

Resources:
Copper Development Association: http://www.copper.org
Copper Development Association: The "Green" Metal is Made To Last
Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Foundation: http://www.thestatueofliberty.org/
The Metal Shoppe, Custom Metal Fabrication/Coppersmithing: http://www.themetalshoppe.net/