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— Property Management Quarterly — August 2015
Q
uality is the only economy.
Now, at first glance that may
sound like the preface for an
expensive reroofing project.
But, in fact, it is the only way to
save time and money. For building own-
ers and those responsible for keeping
maintenance costs down while keeping
confidence in the building envelope
high, the focus must be placed on:
1.The delivery of an enduring solu-
tion
2. Recycling of materials
3. Minimizing environmental impact
Together, these three pillars lead to
the installation of a lasting roofing solu-
tion that slashes
costs to the owner as
a result of the careful
reuse of pre-existing
and uncompromised
thermal insulation. A
solid roofing project
should be sustain-
able, guaranteed,
energy-efficient and
cost-effective.
Thanks to recent
technology advance-
ments, these goals
are easier than ever
to achieve. One new technology that
helps is the nuclear moisture tester.
The device measures moisture levels
in insulation. In order to use the tech-
nology, roofing companies must get a
nuclear license through the state and
federal government. But the efforts are
worth it. If a manager selects a roofing
company with this license, the technol-
ogy can save money for the building
owner without compromising the effi-
ciency of project components.
For example, recently a 61,000-
square-foot reroofing project was com-
pleted with less than 100 sf of waste
(0.0016 percent of the total job).This
almost entirely eliminated additional
expenses for removal, disposal and
associated labor.Typical reroofing jobs
– which often are prompted to fix dam-
age frommoisture – remove the mem-
brane and much of what lies beneath,
including insulation. However, by using
this new technology, roofers can be
much more precise about which parts
they remove.
When the nuclear moisture tes-
ter was run over the roof’s surface,
it determined whether the insula-
tion beneath was compromised with
moisture. Roofers were then able to
recognize which areas needed to be
removed, as opposed to just tearing
off all of the membrane and insula-
tion without knowing which material
was compromised. In this project, it
was determined that very little of the
insulation beneath was affected by the
moisture.The compromised insulation
was removed and replaced while the
rest was preserved, and then the entire
61,000-sf surface was covered with a
newmembrane.
Another technology that benefits
owners is the installation of a white
membrane.When installed, this imme-
diately yields a benefit by reducing
cooling expenses inside the building,
thanks to its high reflectivity.The white
membrane we often prefer is the Johns
ManvilleTPO thermoplastic polyole-
fin membrane that is reinforced with
a polyester fabric.The current TPO
membranes are manufactured using
an ultraviolet-resistant thermoplastic
polyolefin formulation, which makes
it an excellent composition for use in
Colorado.TPO roofing comes in several
thicknesses and is designed for ease in
installation.
TheTPOmembrane used in this
Beth Gloss
Owner, United
Materials LLC,
Denver
Maintenance
Photo courtesy United Materials LLC
The Byron White U.S. federal courthouse in Denver reroofing project required segments
of historical ironwork reconditioning and safety stanchion fabrication and installation.
One way to check out a ven-
dor’s commitment to up-to-date
awareness within the industry is
its involvement in the Center for
Environmental Innovation Roof-
ing.The organization’s mission is
to promote the development and
use of environmentally responsible,
high-performance roof systems
and technologies.
The center, headquartered in
Washington, D.C., serves as a
forum to draw together the roof-
ing industry to the common cause
of raising public awareness of the
strategic value of our nation’s roofs
in reducing energy consumption,
mitigating environmental impact
and enhancing the quality of the
builds in which we live and work.
Visit
for
more information.
Roofing Association
