Abstract This piece of research presents the capability of active and passive cool roof systems, which is designed to reduce the heat transmission into an attic through the metal deck roofing for industrial buildings in Malaysia. In this study, an ideal cool roof system focusing on utilizing solar energy, cavity ventilation and thermal reflective coating (TRC) were employed and investigated. This technique is one of the most innovative and sustainable practices at reducing the energy consumption that provide buildings with comfortable indoor conditions through natural means. The four cool roof models were designed and built in active and passive systems to examine the effect of attic temperature reduction. Application of TRC can significantly reduce the heat absorption of the metal roof. The roof and attic temperatures of the roof models were measured to determine the performance of cool roof system. The roof design (d) results indicate a great reduction at about 15 °C in the attic air temperature compared to normal roof. The outstanding performance is due to the cool roof system that integrated TRC, improved moving air cavity (MAC)-solar powered fans and opened attic inlet comprise the ability to reflect the sunlight and circulate the hot air efficiently.