CREJ - Property Management Quarterly - August 2015
Quality 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 owners 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 solution 2. Recycling of materials 3. Minimizing environmental impact Together, these three pillars lead to the installation of a lasting roofing solution 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 sustainable, guaranteed, energy-efficient and cost-effective. Thanks to recent technology advancements, 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 technology, 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 technology can save money for the building owner without compromising the efficiency of project components. For example, recently a 61,000- square-foot reroofing project was completed 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 damage from moisture – remove the membrane 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 tester was run over the roof’s surface, it determined whether the insulation 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 insulation 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 new membrane. Another technology that benefits owners is the installation of a white membrane. When installed, this immediately yields a benefit by reducing cooling expenses inside the building, thanks to its high reflectivity. The white membrane we often prefer is the Johns Manville TPO thermoplastic polyolefin 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. The TPO membrane used in this project was exceedingly durable, which is a perk for new roofs that want to take into account a design that accommodates “overburdening.” Overburdening refers to future energy enhancements, such as solar panels or a garden roof, that may be installed later with minimal impact. The membrane is tough enough to accommodate the extra weight and burden of additional items without affecting the warranty of the material. Over the course of 90 years, we have seen the roofing industry evolve with changes in technology, much of which now takes the form of “green” technologies. Before there was the “green” buzzword, we called it common sense. Building owners expect a completed project to meet or exceed the value of the price tag. Cooling and heating costs have increased significantly in recent years, and a secure building envelope is the best hedge for those expenses as well as to protect the investment in capital equipment and the comfort of people living or working inside the building each day. A secure building envelope is the physical separator between the conditioned and unconditioned environment of a building that includes the resistance to air, water, heat, light and noise transfer. The three basic elements of a building envelope are a weather barrier, air barrier and thermal barrier. Together, the elements of the envelope include windows, doors, roofs and siding/bricks/insulation. With that in mind, it’s not difficult to see how the investment in a good roof is the seed of cost savings across the spectrum of productivity. That’s the key – a good roof is viewed as an investment, where marginal consideration for reroofing translates into an expense that will have to be revisited time and again. Once a roof is installed, it is important that the installer stand behind the project and, more emphatically, the workmanship. It is important that your vendor does not have a mentality of “set it and forget it.” Often, building owners and facilities managers find that they are forgotten as a result of not making the best choice for their installer. Guarantees should include roof inspections every six months. These types of inspection programs let the owner or property manager help control the life-cycle costs of the roof system, and extend the useful life of a new, reroof or retrofit investment. An additional aspect a building owner should take into account before commencing with a quality roofing project is the roofing company’s commitment to education within the industry. The continuous education on roofing products, architectural demands, and the science behind materials and application relative to an asset’s geography is critical to longevity and cost savings. It is important that the vendor stay current with the evolving roofing trends and technologies. It is important that building owners and property managers work with their roofing vendors to define requirements and make their asset management budgets stretch as far as possible without sacrificing quality. A roof is rarely noticed until it is compromised, but then the consequences to interior assets and personnel may be so significant that the roof becomes the sole focus, as operating costs soar while the damage is being incrementally reversed. And only at that moment of managing the resulting crisis do the words ring, “Quality is the only economy.”