The Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) hosted the grand opening of its multi-risk building science research center in Chester County, S.C. on Tuesday, Oct. 19th by literally blowing away a traditionally built home. Two homes were placed side-by-side in the facility’s test chamber – one built to conventional Midwest building codes and the other built to IBHS’ code-plus standard. Guess which one was still standing and in good shape after the demonstration? Watch the video for the amazing footage from multiple camera angles.

Initial research at the IBHS Research Center will focus on improved roofing performance. Because roof covers are replaced more frequently than any other building component, changes in roofing products and installation requirements can produce significant paybacks within a short period of time. Priority areas of testing include looking at performance of shingles in various windstorm conditions, exploring the effects of short- and long-term aging on roofing material and systems, developing cost-effective methods to retrofit various systems to reduce damage and losses.

The state-of-the-art, multi-hazard applied research and training facility is expected to significantly advance building science by enabling researchers to more fully and accurately evaluate various residential and commercial construction materials and systems. The facility is entirely funded by the property insurance industry.

When fully operational, the IBHS Research Center will be able to simulate Category 1, 2 and 3 hurricane-force winds, extra-tropical windstorms, thunderstorm frontal winds, wildfire ember showers, wind-driven rain and hailstorms within its 21,000 square-foot test chamber. These capabilities largely derive from a massive array of 105, 5-1/2 ft. diameter electric fans that can be accelerated up to 140 mph.

The laboratory’s 750,000 gallon water tank will supply the test chamber’s 200 nozzles, capable of creating “rain” at a rate of up to 8 inches per hour. In addition, hailstones, burning embers and different types of “debris” will be introduced into the wind stream via a series of special ducts and other mechanical systems as part of a variety of tests.

“In addition to wind alone, damage from wind driven hail, water and fire will be core components of our research programs,” said Dr. Timothy Reinhold, IBHS senior vice president of research and chief engineer. “There is so much to be learned about new construction as well as how best to retrofit existing buildings now that we can closely watch building materials and entire systems perform in real world conditions. We are pleased that even at this early point in our initiative, we already are able to forge significant partnerships with leading public, private, and academic institutions who appreciate the quantum leap forward the findings from our lab will mean for building science in this country.”

MonierLifetile, a Boral Roofing Company, has introduced “smog-eating” concrete roof tiles which they say will reduce the amount of smog in the atmosphere.

According to the company’s product brochure:

• Significantly reduces the effect of smog on the environment. Over one year, a 2000 sq ft smog eating concrete tile roof can destroy the same amount of Nitrogen Oxides as a car produces from being driven 10,800 miles.
• Made purely from minerals with an inorganic surface that withstands weather conditions.
• The tile surface does not promote organic growth such as moss and algae. Airborne pollutants are destroyed by the effect of sunlight on the catalyst and are rinsed off by rainfall. Additionally, because of the special pore structure, the concrete tiles dry out in half the time it takes ordinary tiles.

According to EcoHome via BuilderOnline [link], this technology has been used in Europe for a few years, mainly on road materials. Boral is testing it for other product offerings, including clay tiles.

The tiles will carry a price premium, an increase the company expects to come down with volume and time. Installation, performance, and weight are unchanged.

We returned to a 3-year old roof restoration project in Geneva, IL after a moderate snow. Note lack of snow around drain area where there is less rigid roof insulation boards.

System was a Firestone polyisocyanutre insulation with 1/4″ taper in hotted base and DerbiColor by Performance Roof Systems.

Visit the Affordable Roofing Gallery Page for more galleries in the Smith-Richardson tapered roof project.

Always on the lookout for roofing software solutions that will impact the roofing business, we recently came across Roof Express. They have actually been around since 2006, so some of you may already be aware of them. For those of you who have not heard of them, then read on.


The Roof Express data collection tool combines a handheld personal digital assistant/camera (PDA) and a portable Global Positioning System (GPS) unit to quickly and accurately measure, inventory, photograph and record rooftop components and defects.

The Roof Express system provides a seamless transfer of information collected on the roof to an Internet database with roof condition assessment reporting and project development capabilities. The data model includes detailed information from The NRCA Roofing and Waterproofing Manual and the NRCA Repair Manual as criteria to use when collecting data on the roof.

The reporting tool can develop complete Roof Inventory and Condition Assessment Reports. The system also generates outputs that support Project Development and Specification Documents, Cost Estimates and Proposals to assist roofing professionals in all aspects of their business.

The system produces client proposals for commercial projects, with online access to their roof information if you choose. This will provide your clients with roof information management that may enable you to win more contracts and increase sales.

With a system like this, you can build and manage your service/maintenance business. Documenting the initial roof condition as well as each routine inspection and repair. Then provide a report on maintenance work completed to accompany your invoice, as well as proposals for additional work to preserve the life of the roof. You can also provide roof information and asset management to assist with long term budgets and planning.

Website literature says that the U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC) used the Roof Express system to take control of roof information management on a project that involved collecting data on 325 buildings amounting to about 3.55 million square feet at Langley AFB, Virginia. The information collected will be and used to generate interactive roof maps and reports to support project planning and roof maintenance and repair.

Check out the Roof Express website for more information.

Thermoplastic Olefin, or TPO, are plastic sheets welded together with hot air creating one continuous sheet membrane. Can be rewelded with the exception of CSPE. Lends itself well to both big box and small roof application because of its hot air weldability.

TPO is a single-ply roofing system consisting of a Thermoplastic Polyolefin membrane. The TPO membrane typically comprised of three layers of a TPO polymer base, a strong, polyester-reinforced fabric center (scrim) and a tough thermoplastic polyolefin compounded top ply.

TPO is a trade name that refers to polymer/filler blends usually consisting of some fraction of polypropylene, polyethylene, block copolymer polypropylene, rubber, and a reinforcing filler. Common fillers include, though are not restricted to talc, fiberglass, carbon fiber, wollastonite, and Metal Oxy Sulfate. Common rubbers include ethylene-propylene rubber, EPDM , and others. Currently there is a great variety of commercially available rubbers and BCPP’s. They are produced using regioselective and stereoselective catalysts known as metallocenes. The metallocene catalyst becomes embedded in the polymer and cannot be recovered.

Comparing TPO with EPDM materials, TPO sheets do not form permanent cross-links through vulcanization. Without this cross-linking, thermoplastic roof membranes typically creep or cold-flow under the stress. Most products rely upon internal reinforcement such as woven scrim while others use a non-woven fleece backing material.

Benefits of TPO

In general, TPO membranes are being marketed as a product that combines the properties of EPDM and PVC, without the associated drawbacks that the latter two materials have. In other words, they are supposed to be as UV-resistant and as heat-resistant as EPDM, and as heat-weldable as PVC.

The smooth surface resists dirt pick-up and biological growth compared to other thermoplastic membranes.

TPO membranes usually will carry an Energy Star rating having exceeded guidelines based upon solar reflectance and thermal emittance. Energy Star compliant TPO membranes with their high cool roof ratings help reduce the amount of energy required to maintain cool building environments.

The following benefits and characteristics have been reported for TPO:

• environmentally friendly and recyclable
• seams can be heat welded
• available in many colours
• resistant to heat and UV degradation
• resistant to many chemicals
• good cold-temperature flexibility
• no external plasticizers added.

Another advantage of TPO, for the Roofing Contractor and Manufacturers anyway, is that there is a shift from some lower priced materials like EPDM to the higher priced TPO materials according to a Principia study. Commercial roofing sales reached $3.3 billion overall in 2007 with single-ply products comprising the largest segment. Single-ply encompasses EPDM, TPO and PVC membranes and accounted for 32% of volume and 28% of value in 2007. However, within the single-ply category, TPO has been taking share from EPDM and PVC.

Resources

• ThermoPlastic Olefin at Wikipedia
• Thermoplastic (Heat-Weldable) Roofing at Buildings.com
• Thermoplastic Polyolefin Roofing Membranes at NRC-IRC

For citizens of Vancouver BC the beginning of the year brought them a landfill ban from Metro Vancouver Regional District. They were no longer able to dispose of used passenger or truck tires.

Until an unimplemented tire recycling plan is in place the tires have no place to go. To help ease the over abudancy and possibly deter illegal dumping, a Vancouver BC roofing company decided to take action with a free used tire collection service — The Big Eco Tire Toss program.

Penfolds Roofing put on a two-day door-to-door tire collection blitz
April 21st & 22nd. The successful free tire pick-up service was well recieved and they used their time to educate people on the importance of tire recycling and what types of products can be made from them.

“The fact we will arrive at their home and collect up to six used tires free of charge has generated a great response.”, said Penfolds Roofing president Ken Mayhew.

One product made from recycled tires are rubber shakes or shingles. Penfolds installs a brand of rubber shake called EcoRoof. Their literature says the eco-friendly rubber shakes are tough, practically indistructable, moss resistant, lightweight, leak proof & mostly maintenance free.

For every roof replaced with EcoRoof Rubber Shakes, 450 old tires are removed from the landfill. Annually, that’s about 20,000 tires diverted into a high-quality, lasting product.

Mayhew says that Penfolds plans to make The Big Eco Tire Toss program an annual April event.

Finding quality bloggers who write about the Roofing Industry is challenging. Quite frankly they are few and far between. In the past few days of searching, I have come across several that were no more than spam efforts of cut and paste jobs from a popular free article site.

In an effort to wade through the noise, we have added a new section to Roof Info which aggregates the latest posts from legitimate blogs. The Roofing Blog Feeds section is accessible via the main navigation menu item labled Feeds.

Currently we have a few roofing blogs of note. In no particular order, they are:

• Solar Shingles – A Blogspot blog dedicated to solar roofing.
• RC Columns – The syndicated Columns feed from Roofing Contractor magazine.
• RC Features – The syndicated Feature Articles feed from Roofing Contractor magazine.

More feeds will be added as they become known to us. If you know of a blog that would fit in, drop us a comment below and we will look into it.

Having problems visualizing your home or project with color chips and samples?

Try Certainteed’s ColorView to help visualize your home by allowing you to create your own custom exterior from CertainTeed’s extensive library of residential building products and colors. Creating your dream home has never been easier!

Choose from a variety of home styles and use ColorView to mix-and-match products and colors from categories such as roofing, siding, trim, fences, railings and decks.

ColorView allows you to share your choices with a friend or your building professional. Your building professional can supply you with specific product information, samples and an estimate.

For Canadian and extreme northern edges of the US, try DreamRoof’s roof designer which can help you select the shingle that best fits your home, your budget and your style.

As an added convenience, you will have the opportunity to save and print your custom-made roofing project and access it at anytime, from anywhere. Just click on the Create Your Own Dream Roof link and have at it.

DreamRoof’s roof designer also offers an estimated project cost.

Japanese brewer Suntory Ltd. said it had created an alternative to soil to help keep cities green. Applications include soil to cover roofs and walls for greenery — green roofs.

“This will make it possible to plant greenery on roofs and walls of buildings that have less load capacity,” said Suntory’s executive general manager Norio Kanayama.

Suitable for expanding green space in urban areas because it is lighter and more solid than soil. The soil is made of a synthetic substance, urethane.

Leafy plants growing in the synthetic soil can reduce the roof temperature by 10 degrees Celsius (18 degrees Fahrenheit) — cool roofs.

Of course, there’s considerable irony in trying to save the planet by covering concrete buildings in fake plastic dirt, but then again, such a solution is about as Japanese as it gets, no? Engadget

Read the entire article, an interesting item to watch develop in the future.

Modern home construction methods result in better insulated and tighter homes. This can save the average homeowner money on energy bills and make the need for a well ventilated attic even more important.

Good Roof Ventilation Does Make A Difference

Attic ventilation is necessary to prevent moisture problems and heat build-up, as well as, reduce heating and cooling costs. The benefits of proper ventilation for the homeowner are a cooler attic in the summer, a dryer attic in the winter and structural protection of the home from moisture damage.

Summer Heat

In the summer, heat builds up in the attic space, which will cool at night if the attic is properly ventilated. However, if the attic is unventilated or ventilated incorrectly, the heat will build-up over a period of days and continue to increase the temperature inside the attic.¹

A 90-degree day with no attic ventilation can heat the roof sheath to 170 degrees or more. Heat radiating from the sheathing down to the attic floor can raise its temperature to as much as 140 degrees. Without adequate ventilation, today’s heavier insulation will absorb and hold more heat built-up during the day and make the attic less likely to cool at night.

Overheated ceiling insulation conducts the heat through the ceiling down to the residents of the home. This causes the air conditioning system to operate for longer periods of time to reduce the heat.

Winter Moisture

The well-insulated attic also will hold moisture in the winter and moisture causes considerably more problems than excessive heat.

During the winter, air inside the home is warmer and carries more water vapor than the colder, dryer air into the attic. Cooking, laundry, showers and humidifiers add moisture to the air inside the home. Atmospheric pressure causes the vapor moisture to naturally migrate from high humidity air to low humidity air and as it moves into the attic, the moist air will condense into liquid on the cooler rafters, trusses and roof sheathing.

As the air gets colder, its ability to absorb moisture is reduced. And, as the insulation levels are increased in the ceiling the attic becomes colder and more likely to retain the moisture, which can damage the structure.

In some parts of the United States such as the Greater Chicago area, snow melting on a warm roof surface can cause an ice dam. The melting snow, usually near the ridge, runs down to the colder roof overhang and then refreeze into ice. Subsequently melting of the snow on the roof can accumulate as a pocket of water that eventually backs-up under the shingles to cause major damage. The results can be soaked insulation, stained sheet rock or peeling paint. In some cases, the build up of the ice weight can cause structural damage.

For more information on ventilation visit the Air Vent, Inc. website.

References:
1. Air Vent Inc.’s “Principles of Attic Ventilation”