L.A. Will Pay You to Make Your Roof Whiter
Citium Roofing Solutions ·
A high-SRI low-slope roof in Los Angeles — this is the surface LADWP’s rebate paperwork is built around.
Two different bureaucracies care about how much sun your roof bounces. Title 24 is the energy code that shapes what you are allowed to install on most reroofs. LADWP will pay you a modest rebate if the product and the paperwork line up. Mix them up and you either fail inspection or leave hundreds of dollars on the table.
Citium Roofing builds both into cool roof replacements for City of L.A. customers.
Title 24 in one paragraph
When you replace more than 50% of a roof over conditioned space, California expects a cool roof that meets reflectance and emittance numbers for that slope. You do not have to install a glaring white ranch roof. You do have to install a listed product, not “whatever was on the truck.” Keep the wrapper. Inspectors and rebate clerks both like labels.
LADWP rebate tiers (as published for the current Consumer Rebate Program)
| Slope | $0.20 / sq ft | $0.60 / sq ft |
|---|---|---|
| Low slope (≤ 2:12) | 3-year SRI ≥ 78 | 3-year SRI ≥ 85 |
| Steep slope (> 2:12) | 3-year SRI ≥ 20 | 3-year SRI ≥ 35 |
Paid on eligible square feet over conditioned space. Patios, carports, and decorative overhangs do not count. Confirm live numbers on LADWP’s Consumer Rebate Program page before you print flyers — utilities edit programs.
The invoice fields that make or break the check
- CRRC product ID
- Make / model / color
- Square footage and slope
- Paid, itemized invoice
- Finaled Building & Safety permit (LADWP notes an exception for some liquid-applied coatings)
If your contractor’s invoice says only “comp shingle job,” the rebate dies in a mailroom. We write invoices like a clerk will read them, because a clerk will.
What a cool roof does on a 105° Valley afternoon
A listed cool product will not make the house feel like coastal fog. It will drop roof-surface and attic temperatures versus a baked black 3-tab, which takes load off the AC you are already yelling at. Pair it with ventilation or you wasted the granule science.
Low-slope homes often see the dramatic version: white TPO versus old gray cap sheet. That is the flat-roof article.
Want the spec and the rebate file handled as one job? Start with the estimate.