(ARA) – The roof is one of the most critical ways a family can protect the investment and comfort of a cherished home. Innovative composite technology is delivering the best of all worlds: beauty, durability, sustainability and maintenance-free living.

For those who love the traditional charm of shake roofing, today’s innovations mean the era of compromise is over. The natural elegance of shake roofing has historically come at high cost from recurring maintenance and high risk of decay, and worse, fire.

Now, InSpire Roofing Products‘ Cedar Shake is changing the concept of shake roof architecture. Carrying a limited lifetime warranty, it combines optimum fire protection with no maintenance being required.

The InSpire Cedar Shake Roofing System carries a Class A fire rating – the highest level – meaning it’s tested in accordance with Underwriters Laboratories’ “severe” fire exposure testing. In comparison, much wood shake roofing carries no fire rating at all.

“Even with commitment to a great-looking home, homeowners attracted to shake style can’t undo the effects of weather and time on wood. InSpire roofing allows homeowners to avoid a needy roof, instead gaining one that keeps on giving beauty,” says Jonathan Wierengo, director of marketing for The Tapco Group, maker of InSpire.

Underlying the shakes’ authentic beauty, the innovative mineral filled polyolefin composition handles beastly weather; fierce wind-driven rain, class four hail impact, sea-spray and 110 mph winds. By exactly mirroring nature’s texture, InSpire Cedar Shake produces deep dimension, long wood grain striations and wondrous interplays of light and shadow. Its InFlex cambered design means fasteners hold the shakes snugly to the roof. Locking tabs provide easy installation and also protect against wind-driven rain, preventing water penetration for a structurally-sound roof.

Durability also makes it the sustainable cedar alternative. Tiles are 100 percent recyclable, can be reused, and never have to be replaced with new material. In addition, there’s no forced reliance on chemical treatments that need to be repeated every several years for wood shakes that could themselves need replacement in less than 20 years.

InSpire Roofing Products is a division of The Tapco Group, a U.S. Green Building Council member. For more information, call (800) 971-4148 or visit www.InSpireRoofing.com, where you can see InSpire’s ecoScorecard for green building certification programs.