OasisLMS

In comparing retrofits and reroofing projects, each offers its own advantages and disadvantages.

For starters, retrofits enable the original roof to remain in place to both protect the building interior during the installation and allow building operations to continue. This strategy is less expensive, less invasive, and can be typically done at any time of the year.

Similarly, Andy Feth, P.E., DBIA, LEED AP, project executive, C.W. Driver Companies, San Diego, states, “There is always a market for retrofitting roofs as the original installation reaches the limits of its useful life. Also, with rooftop photovoltaic systems becoming more popular, some building owners may consider roofing retrofit projects sooner than later.”

Workers are afforded a safer work surface since they are walking on the old roofing, as compared to the open framing members like purlins and joists that workers must deal with when installing a new roof, explains Vincent E. Sagan, PE, senior staff engineer, Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA), Cleveland. Furthermore, demolition waste and the need for a large laydown area for temporary storage of roofing materials is avoided.

“Retrofit takes full advantage of the existing insulation with the option of easily adding more insulation over an existing roof,” he adds.

Even uninsulated roofs still deliver an increased energy efficiency if the cavity between the old roof and bottom of the new metal roof is ventilated. In particular, above-sheathing ventilation (ASV) is recommended, and according to Oak Ridge National Laboratory research, it decreases heat gain through the roof assembly by as much as 30 percent in the summer and delivers a similar heat loss reduction in the winter. With the incorporation of a cool surface, this heat gain reduction can jump to as high as 45 percent.

Photos courtesy of Drexel Metals, Inc.

Greg Lusty, Vice President of Sales  has a diverse and extensive work experience in the sales and product management field. Greg is currently serving as the Vice President of Sales at All Weather Insulated Panels since August 2019. Prior to this, they worked as the Regional Vice President of Commercial Sales for the Eastern Region at Metal Sales Manufacturing Corporation from January 2019 to July 2019. Greg also held the position of Regional Vice President of Sales for the NE region at Metal Sales Manufacturing Corporation from March 2017 to December 2018. Before their tenure at Metal Sales, Lusty worked at CENTRIA from July 2014 to March 2017 as the Director of Product Management and R&D. Greg also worked as a Product Manager for Insulated Metal Panels at CENTRIA from May 2008 to July 2014. Earlier in their career, Greg Lusty worked at TRACO as the Commercial Product Manager from January 2005 to May 2008, and at Hussey Copper as the Sales/Marketing Manager from December 1998 to December 2004.

Audrey Gallien, A senior director of business development at Catalyst  A New York nonprofit that works to make workplaces friendlier to women, spoke to the Mechanical Contractors Association of America’s Women in the Mechanical Industry March 27. Her research has shown that most workers are either “climbers” who work their way up the professional ladder; “hangers” who just grab on; “scanners” who look for opportunities but may not act; and “coasters” who don’t actively seek out opportunities. She asked the heavily female audience where they thought they fell. “Most people are probably coasters,” Gallien said. And that can have a negative effect on lifetime earnings. “Men are more heavily compensated when they jump from company to company,” she said. “We do not see that same effect for women.”