Market share for residential metal roofing jumped from approximately 8 percent in 2014 to 11 percent in 2015, increasing total demand for metal roofing from 11.7 million squares to 17.7 million squares, according to a recent study by Dodge Data & Analytics.

The asphalt roof market dropped from 80 percent to 78 percent during the same period, the report said.

“When the Metal Roofing Alliance began our national consumer awareness campaign in 1998, metal only made up 3.7 percent of the re-roofing market,” said Dick Bus, president of Metal Roofing Alliance. “Our consistent effort to educate consumers about investment-grade metal roofing has helped to build this market, and we believe even more growth is possible. Based on this data, combined with what we know about the remodeling market in general, we can estimate that over 750,000 U.S. homeowners chose a metal roof to protect their families in 2015.”

The study reviewed metal-roofing activity across nine U.S. Census regions and measured the percent of homeowners who purchased building products in a given year. Consumer insights from the study included top reasons homeowners chose a metal roof. Twenty-six percent listed longevity as a top reason, followed by strength and protection at 22 percent, attractiveness at 15 percent and good investment/adds value at 15 percent, according to the study. In terms of style, 71 percent of homeowners preferred the vertical ribbed panel, with 53 percent installing painted panels, the study reported.

“The Metal Roof Alliance was formed as a market-building organization and that’s exactly what we’ve done consistently for the past 18 years,” said Bill Hippard, MRA’s executive director. “We’ve been able to more than triple metal roofing’s residential market share by offering a quality, investment-grade product that provides decades of protection for homes. The MRA will continue to educate homeowners and develop educational tools like the find-a-contractor feature and the roofing visualizer tool on our website to further build our market share.”