Tom Hutchinson

Roof systems based on historical in situ performance for more than 30 years are the best roof system choice to benefit the environment. A recent survey of building owners and managers revealed that what was important to them was roof… Read More

“The need for, use and design of a vapor retarder in the design of a roof system used to be a hotly debated topic. It appears now—when vapor retarders are needed more than ever—the design community seems to have lost… Read More

Thanks to a growing number of factors–the growing emphasis on environmentally responsible building practices, the employment of increasingly sophisticated criteria for financing of construction projects, and more government regulations of public construction–the concept of life cycle assessment (LCA) has grown… Read More

Installing Auxiliary roofing functions, such as support for energy producing equipment, requires forethought.  

Playing on the recent election, “Joe the Architect” actually believes that specifying a cool-roof membrane allows him to perform an environmental good. Nothing could be further from the truth. The lemming like nature of the design community and, more importantly,… Read More

Paddy Chayefsky once said: “I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.” This statement might best describe how I feel about the current state of the roofing industry. Never in my 25 years of involvement with… Read More

The construction industry currently faces an opportunity to turn a problem into a solution. The problem is the growing amount of construction waste being removed from roofs.

“Construction waste management quickly is becoming a significant concern not only for the construction industry but for roofing contractors. According to Engineering News-Record, 136 million tons of construction debris are created annually and the cost of virgin materials continues to… Read More

In the mid-1980s, DuPont developed an energy calculator, which some manufacturers of light-colored membranes used as a marketing tool for their products. The high cost of light-colored membranes, though, was a substantial hindrance to widespread acceptance.