The EPDM Roofing Association (ERA) announced the leadership transition of Chair of the Board of Directors to Nick Parent, director of product management at Amrize Building Envelope. Mike Ducharme, former vice president of marketing at Carlisle Construction Materials, was the… Read More
Media
Cool Roof Complexity
Guest Column Claims that roof reflectivity mandates universally lower energy bills and enhance health are outdated. Editor’s Note: This piece was submitted as a Letter to Editor and lightly edited to clarify statements related to the article in question before… Read More
Emerging Trends in EPDM Roofing
Sustainability was a pervasive theme in 2024, leading to significant progress in research dissemination, advocacy, media engagement, and sustainability initiatives—all of which continue to point EPDM as the gold standard for roofing. “While new technologies emerge in the roofing industry,… Read More
An Updated Holistic Look at Old Assumptions: Insights from Three New Studies on Roof Albedo
THE GROWING AWARENESS of climate change, as well as the related issues of urban heat islands and steadily increasing energy costs, has led to a growing interest in the effectiveness of reflective, or “cool” roofs (i.e., roofs that are designed… Read More
From an afterthought to essential: Proper care and maintenance of roofs can help extend the life of an education facility
The average school building in the United States is expected to last about 60 years, sheltering at least two generations of students that pass through its doors. Structures built from brick, stone, high-quality masonry and other durable materials, maintained with… Read More
Building A Sustainable Future
So far, the winter of 2023/2024 has followed a well-established pattern of extreme weather events that have become the norm during the past decades. Hurricane-force winds and powerful waves have eroded beaches on both coasts, and torrential rains are flooding… Read More
Black EPDM roofing is still a great support for solar arrays
High above the beautiful beaches of Hawaii, the W.M. Keck Observatory sits on the upper slopes of the inactive volcano Mauna Kea. The observatory is home to two telescopes designed “to observe the universe with unprecedented power and precision.” The location… Read More
A New Approach to Codes for Low-Slope Commercial Roof Systems
AFTER HURRICANE IAN devastated parts of Florida in 2022, almost before the winds had subsided and the floodwaters receded, the predictable discussion of building codes began. Most of the conversation centered on why the devastation was so widespread, especially after… Read More
Does the Color of Your Commercial Roof Really Matter?
For many years, architects, engineers and contractors believed that a roof’s color, especially the choice between black and white, significantly impacted a building’s environmental footprint by influencing the urban heat island (UHI) effect. UHI is a phenomenon where urban areas… Read More