“We are pleased to be making an impact on the environment at the same time we are improving our customer’s property,” said owner Jeff Premo, who began his eponymous company serving the Monterey, Salinas, and Santa Cruz areas in 1983. 

Through the award, the Monterey Bay Air Resources District “believes it is important to recognize individuals, organizations and companies who demonstrate leadership by their actions, in ensuring good air quality. By recognizing these leaders, we hope to inspire more people and organizations to make a positive impact on air quality, and even more initiatives to be undertaken.”  

The Monterey Bay office is specifically interested in local and regional NOx emissions. Stated in their air quality plan, “reducing NOx emissions is crucial for reducing ozone formation” for the area, which is also impacted by NOx emissions from the upwind San Francisco Bay Area and San Joaquin Air Basins. The office also provides local air quality monitoring information visible here. 

“Each roof installed by Premo roofing has smog reducing granules that help clean the air of Nitrogen oxides (NOx),” said Premo in their nomination.

The Malarkey roofing shingles installed by Premo contain 3M™ Smog-reducing Granules which help to remove smog pollution (nitrogen oxides or NOx). Integrated throughout the shingle’s surface, 3M’s roofing granules are designed with a specialized photocatalytic coating applied to the base mineral. The specialized coating on the granule is activated by the sun’s UV rays, while blending inconspicuously into various shingle color combinations. 

As shown in the video, when sunlight hits the shingles containing the smog-reducing granules, radicals are generated and transform nitrogen oxide gases into water-soluble ions improving air quality. On an average-sized roof, the smog-reducing strength of the shingles is equivalent to more than two trees! This smart solution for pollution mitigation can help communities like Monterey Bay contribute toward their NOx emission reduction efforts. 

Like Malarkey, Premo built his company based on a “passion for solving problems with hard work and creative solutions.” As a leading installer of our roofing shingles, Premo said, 

“Many of our customers are interested in clean energy and Malarkey offers a wide variety of colors to choose from with the solar reflective granules embedded in the shingle itself,” he said. “Also, we offer financing to our customers and the financing programs we use require the customer choose shingles that meet Title 24 requirements.  With the wide variety of colors available, our customers and Premo Roofing are happy to comply and feel good about making positive improvements with ecofriendly materials.

Title 24 is the State of California’s Building Energy Program and includes a number of standards to designed around energy efficiency. According to the Energy Commission, these “energy efficiency standards have saved Californians billions in reduced electricity bills since 1977.” One of the standards particular to roofing, relates to the Solar Reflectance Index (SRI), which the U.S. Green Building Council defines as, “a measure of the constructed surface’s ability to stay cool in the sun by reflecting solar radiation and emitting thermal radiation.” Cool roofs, as they’re otherwise known, not only have the ability to aid in reducing a building’s energy costs, but can also reduce the effects of urban heat islands. 

As a manufacturer of industry-leading building materials, Malarkey designs innovative, performance-driven roofing products. This means we sustainably produce durable, reliable roofing shingles that are engineered to perform beyond simply protecting a roof from the elements. With an active research and development team, we are creating roofing products that help to improve air quality, limit heat absorption, and reduce the volume of plastic and tire rubber entering landfills.  

We congratulate and thank Premo Roofing for choosing Malarkey Roofing Products in the leadership for air quality improvement in Monterey Bay.