Michael Russo
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Every day, while we write and you roof, there's a small cadre of roofing professionals — representing all segments of the
low-slope market — racking up airline miles. And they're not traveling to Las Vegas-style trade shows to live it up on their
company credit cards.
Instead, these travelers are sitting for hours on uncomfortable folding chairs in half-empty conference rooms. They listen,
observe, and sometimes object, as people who often know little or nothing about roof design evaluate the energy efficiency
of commercial roofing systems.
In the case of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), these road-weary industry representatives, many of whom have studied,
specified or installed these roofs for decades, are told how each membrane will be tested and rated. Those that pass receive
the U.S. government's seal of approval. Those that don't lose their credibility in the low-slope roofing market.
Meanwhile, a property owner in Chicago wonders how his million-square-foot, EnergyStar-rated, reflective roof membrane cost
him 14 percent of his annual winter heating bill before the installers even left the roof. The travel-worn industry representatives roll over in their hotel beds. They are tired and simply can't keep up with the code
changes promulgated by various regulatory agencies. It seems that the concept of "sustainable" roofing is spinning out of
control.
"The biggest challenge I personally see at present is the rapid growth of 'green' roofing that includes all manner of issues
— recycling, vegetated rooftops, solar, reflectivity, and others too numerous to list," registered roof consultant David R.
Hawn, the president of Dedicated Roof and Hydro-Solutions in Centreville, Va., says.
Consultants such as Hawn have no agenda, barring the provision of a good roof for the building owner. That these comments
come from the first vice president of the Institute of Roofing, Waterproofing, and Building Envelope Professionals (RCI) make
them even more disturbing.
"There is an opportunity to increase roofing risk and make mistakes as a particular 'green' aspect that affects the way we
roof buildings is pursued," Hawn says. "Some of these are even promoted with incentives before we truly understand the influence
these concepts have on roof performance."
There was nothing wrong with the million-square-foot, EPA-approved roof membrane in Chicago, other than the fact that it was
mechanically fastened to a steel deck through a single 3-inch layer of insulation. Every fastener became a thermal short,
with condensation forming a half-inch-thick layer of ice under the membrane.
Where was the vapor retarder and/or second layer of staggered polyiso? Maybe a fully adhered system and a cover board would
have helped.
"Just throw 'white' on it, and it's great," registered roof consultant and architecty Tom Hutchinson, the principal of Hutchinson
Design Group in Barrington, Ill., says. "There are so many outside influences with no vested interest telling the roofing
industry what to do, with no liability on their part."
If you ask the experts at EPA, they'll tell you that taking a "systems" approach to EnergyStar would be too complex, although
all the major manufacturers sell and warrant their products that way.
It's true that the last thing the industry needs is for EPA to become another FM Global — testing thousands of different roofing
configurations and charging for it. However, the EnergyStar label on a refrigerator gives consumers a clear idea of the annual
energy savings they can expect from the appliance. Not so for a roofing system. Rather than mislead building owners, EPA should
either do it right or get out of the roofing industry.
At this writing, even the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) draft document
on sustainability mentions nothing about using two layers of insulation. "It's a work-in-progress," Hutchinson says.
The excellent study by the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction/International Union
of Laboratories and Experts in Construction Materials, Systems, and Structures (CIB/RILEM), "Toward Sustainable Roofing" (cibworld.xs4all.nl/dl/ib/0103/Pub271.pdf),
emphasizes the importance of extending roof life. It's a point that EPA and other groups continue to miss.
MICHAEL RUSSO has been reporting on the roofing, siding, and insulation industry for 27 years. He can be reached at mrusso@questex.com
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