Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Weather Related Conditions

The weather conditions in the northeast are having tremendous impact on the performance of roof systems. One of the considerations that contractors have to be aware of is how the weather conditions affect the roof system that they are working on while they are working on it. Cold temperatures, snow fall and ice have a great impact on the performance of roof systems due to the thermal shock that these roof systems experience. If contractors are working on roof systems during these types of weather occurrences the very impact of foot traffic repeatedly over an area of a roof system may impact those areas to the point where they too can begin to break down. This leads to increased failures in the roof in areas where they were not anticipated. As building owners, it is recommended that you speak with your contractor about the exposure that you have should you attempt to do the work during harsh winter weather conditions. You may be doing more harm than good by pushing the work prematurely.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Major increases in roofing adhesive prices for the northeast

Many building owners are not aware of the activities of various state governments concerning the use of solvent based roofing adhesives and products. Various state governments in the northeast and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States have formed the OTC or Ozone Transport Commission. The group is tasked with affecting smog levels in those states that are a part of the commission through regulation of substances believed to contribute to smog and smog formation.

Roofing adhesives and other products related to the roofing industry have been targeted as a contributing factor and as a result have fallen under the regulation of the OTC. Member states including New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Washington DC have implemented a timeline for the complete phase out of VOC based roofing related solvents. The time table requires that those manufacturing, purchasing and installing those products stop the use of those products between May 1st and September 30th of 2010 and 2011. A complete phase out of these products will take place in 2012 forward.

In response to these state government mandates, the roofing manufacturers have developed substitute materials to allow products to be installed and projects to be completed should they fall into these timelines. These products qualify as a low-VOC product and meet the requirements of the state governments and the OTC. However, these products come with a major price increase. In most cases, the pricing premium on these products may be as much as a 100% or more price increase. This leaves the building owner scrambling to fund the cost of roof repairs and replacements should those projects fall into that timeline. Costs per square foot for roof replacements may increase as much as $.30 per square foot depending upon the type of system used. Applied over a 100,000 square foot roof area and you will be looking at increases of $30,000.

Building owners have some level of control that they can exercise in this situation. They are in control of their schedule and when they decide to implement roofing projects. By properly planning or acting on roofing projects, building owners can save a lot of money. A difference of days or weeks in a project can impact the overall bottom line of a roofing project and can impact the return on investment for a project.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A Case for Building Component Asset Management

Commercial Real Estate: Differentiation through Building Asset Management
The economy of the United States and the world has been embroiled in a deep recession since December of 2007. The repercussions of this recession have been felt in virtually every vertical market in business as well as by most social classes. The commercial real estate market has been significantly impacted by this prolonged recession as indicated by escalating rates of vacancy in the United States for Class A office space and industrial tenant space. As a result of this increased level of inventory in Class A office space and other types of real estate, renters can be more discriminating and demanding in their selection process of where they establish their businesses and how much they pay for leasing those spaces. Building owners and leasing agents are looking for a way to differentiate their buildings in the marketplace. There are programs that exist to certify new buildings as green structures. The commercial and industrial real estate market is beginning to realize the demand for programs that recognize the efforts of building owners and property managers to effectively manage their building assets in a sustainable manner with minimal impact on the environment and provide building tenants with a quality environment to operate their businesses.
Effective building asset management and differentiation based upon sustainability begins with the process of benchmarking. Building owners and managers use the process of benchmarking to establish a baseline for the performance of their building assets. Many organizations including BOMA International (Building Owners and Managers Association) as USGBC (United States Green Building Council) have data which helps building owners establish benchmarks to compare their building assets to. These organizations have established certification programs based in part on benchmarking buildings against an acceptable standard of performance.
Benchmarking assets allows building owners and managers to assess the performance of their building assets against what is considered to be the acceptable range of performance for the asset being analyzed. By analyzing the performance of their asset both across a short-term as well as a long-term period the asset manager can determine how the asset is performing and then make the necessary adjustments in the treatment of the asset in order to affect performance. In addition, the trends of the asset can be analyzed to project future asset performance in a predictive method. By doing this initial study, the manager can make necessary adjustments to the treatment of the asset in order to extend the remaining estimated use life (REUL) of the asset. In turn the asset manager has kept the demand for new assets to a minimum and thereby has reduced the impact of the building on the environment and the net operating income of the building.
Various building components have different degrees of impact on the surrounding environment. These building components or assets impact the environment through such areas as site impact, indoor air quality (IAQ) or the interior work environment, and the disposal of a completely depreciated asset at the time of its replacement. More attention now is paid to the impact that new buildings and the design of those buildings has on the environment at the actual construction site as well as on a macro scale of its impact on the nation as well as the world.
The USGBC has been a long-standing proponent of addressing the environmental impact of new buildings. As a result, they have established the LEED program. LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The LEED program initially focused on evaluating new buildings in various areas including site impact, IAQ, energy efficiency and other areas by assigning points for levels achieved. Buildings are assigned certain ratings including Gold and Platinum according to the aggregate total of their points earned. While this program benefited the owners of new structures by differentiating their new buildings from other new buildings, the program did little to recognize the efforts of owners and operators of existing structures.
Prior to the current economic recession and throughout the past 20 years many building owners did little to effectively manage their assets to extend their estimated use life. There was little recognition of the impact that poorly designed structures would have on the cost of operation for most buildings. The relatively low cost of energy and building components allowed building owners to grow complacent with their buildings. Many years of consistent net operating income (NOI) supported their complacency. Not until the rapid economic expansion in the Pacific Rim countries along with substantial increases in the cost of energy were the net operating incomes of most commercial structures severely impacted. With reduced net operating incomes and increased inventory in the commercial real estate market, asset managers began looking for opportunities that both increases the appeal of their portfolios to potential tenants in the general market place as well as a way to control operating costs and positively affect the net operating income of their properties.
As a result of the economic demand for a system of recognizing building asset managers’ efforts to manage their portfolios with consideration for the environment organizations began to respond with programs that give recognition for meeting certain standards. The USGBC has modified its LEED program to include programs that address certain market segments within the commercial, industrial and residential building markets. One of these programs that specifically address existing structures and their operations is LEED Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance. This program allows building owners to benchmark the operations and maintenance of their buildings against a national standard. By participating in this program with the USGBC, asset managers can achieve certain levels of ratings which can then in turn be used by the leasing agents to differentiate the building structure in the marketplace and attract potential tenants to the property.
As an alternate offering, BOMA International has developed BOMA 360. BOMA 360 is a self-audit and assessment of the operations of commercial and industrial buildings. The BOMA program differs from the LEED program in its goals and administration. While the LEED program focuses on continual improvement of commercial real estate assets, the BOMA 360 program focuses on establishing consistent operations that support a high-performance commercial building environment. In addition to the consistent operations standards, asset managers must also establish a preventative maintenance program for various building components and assets. There is also opportunity for asset managers to achieve their ratings goals through the improvement of building assets such as roofing systems or appliances by using EPA Energy Star rated components.
By implementing an effective asset management program and in turn achieving one or both of these ratings for their buildings, asset managers and leasing agents are able to offer green leases to the public. Green leases are lease arrangements that place requirements on both the leaser and the lessee to operate and maintain the tenant space and the structure in a manner which is congruent with the demands that are specifically laid out on the lease. These requirements may include green purchasing requirements, green building products being incorporated into tenant fit-outs and various other requirements impacting the daily operations of the tenant space. By having a structure of tenant space that meets the requirements of either a BOMA 360 or LEED program, the building owner or manager has greater opportunities to lease out their asset.
The implementation of a strong asset management program has inherent benefits for both the building owner as well as the community in which the building asset is located. The benefits for the building owner include the potential increase in lease-out rates for their portfolio and a decrease in the cost of ownership and operations expenses for the asset. The community in which the building is located benefits by having a viable structure that contributes to the property values of the community as well as minimizes the impact of the building on the local environment.
Building owners who receive financial incentives in order to justify the expenses of implementing an asset management program are more likely to implement such a program. By allowing building owners and managers to achieve the status of green and sustainable for their building portfolios, the incentive will be present for building owners to continue to implement programs that will sustain assets and in turn will limit the impact that those assets have on the community, the nation and the world.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Be forewarned - heavy snow in 2010.

Be aware of the heavy winter weather projections in 2010. It is time to check your roofing system and be prepared for what may prove to be the biggest test of your roof system in more than 10 years!

http://www.accuweather.com/mt-news-blogs.asp?partner=accuweather&blog=Weathermatrix&pgurl=/mtweb/content/Weathermatrix/archives/2009/07/bold_prediction_snowiest_in_5_years_dc_nyc.asp

Thursday, April 30, 2009

New Pollution Controls Will Increase Roofing Costs ...

Many property managers, building owners and commercial real estate trusts may not be aware of the impending changes that are taking place with regards to the use of solvent based adhesives that are used in most standard single ply roof applications. Below is an exerpt from information produced by Carlisle SynTec, one of the leading single ply manufacturers in the United States. Please read carefully so that you are aware of the impact that project timing may have on your commercial roofing projects in the states that are affected. Please note that solutions are available, but certain products that are required under this regulation have a material cost increase of approximately 50% which will significantly impact the costs of completing roofing projects during the time periods when these regulations are in affect.

Please contact my office at 800-710-7525 if you have any questions on how these products will impact your roofing projects in the future.

VOC Regulations for Adhesives and Sealants

Common Questions and Answers

The Ozone Transport Commission (OTC), which is made up of 13 Northeast and mid-Atlantic states developed a model rule to reduce VOC limits in an effort to meet the clean air requirements set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

What are VOC’s?

VOC stands for Volatile Organic Compound. The main purpose of VOC Regulations is to reduce the formation of ozone (smog). Several states have adopted rules to regulate the VOC content of all types of products including single-ply roofing adhesives, sealants and primers.

Which states are affected?

Adoption of VOC regulations and dates these regulations go into effect vary by state. See enclosed list for specifics.

Which products are impacted by these new regulations?

Today, many of the Carlisle products we have had for years already comply with the OTC Model Rule or have compliant alternatives. Carlisle is also working diligently to develop new and improved compliant alternatives. A complete list of affected Carlisle products and alternatives is included below.

Standard Product Compliant Alternative
Sure-Seal® Bonding Adhesive Aqua Base 120 or EPDM Low VOC Bonding (under development)
Sure-Weld® Bonding Adhesive Aqua Base 120 or TPO Low VOC Bonding
Sure-Flex™ Bonding Aqua Base 120 or PVC Low VOC Bonding (under development)
EP-95 Splice Cement FAT or SecureTAPE™
Sure-White® Splice Cement FAT or SecureTAPE
P-30 Splice Cement FAT or SecureTAPE
HP 250 - 1 or 2.5 gallons cans LV 600 or HP 250 in 1 pint cans or EPDM Low
VOC Primer (under development)
TPO Primer TPO Primer in pint cans or TPO Low VOC
Primer (under development)
CCW 702 Cav-Grip or CCW 702 LV

*Products packaged in 16-oz. or smaller tubes or bottles are exempt*

How do the new regulations impact my business?
The language varies somewhat by state but essentially applies to any person who, on and after the effective date, sells, offers for sale, supplies or uses an adhesive, sealant or primer that does not meet the VOC content limits set forth in the regulation. For bidding purposes, compliant products under development may often carry a price premium of up to 50% over traditional solvent-based adhesives. Please contact your local Carlisle representative or distributor regarding pricing and availability.

When do the regulations go into effect?
Through the efforts of both the EPDM Roofing Association (ERA) and Carlisle, a number of the OTC member states have agreed to a “phase-in” period for the years 2009through 2011. States that have yet to implement the rule are also being asked to include a “phase-in” period to cover 2010 and 2011. This “phase-in” period is to allow for successful development of compliant solvent-based alternatives prior to full year OTC Model Rule enforcement in 2012. The following table includes states that have already implemented the rule and the effective dates for 2009 through 2011. During these time periods, products that meet the OTC Model Rule requirements must be used in that respective state. OTC member states not appearing in this table have yet to implement the rule.

Effective Dates State 2009 2010 2011

Connecticut June 1st - August 31st May 1st - September 30th May 1st - September 30th
DC June 1st - August 31st May 1st - September 30th May 1st - September 30th
Maryland May 15th - September 15th May 1st - September 30th May 1st - September 30th
New Jersey June 1st - August 31st May 1st - September 30th May 1st - September 30th
Rhode Island July 1st - August 31st May 1st - September 30th May 1st - September 30th(RI has an exemption for products manufactured prior to July 1, 2009)

At this time, all states adopting the OTC rule will require full year compliance on and after January 1, 2012. If work is planned in any of the OTC member states, it is critical to keep abreast of the time periods when Low VOC products are required for use by that specific state’s regulation. Please refer to these links for complete and current information on VOC regulations.

OTC (Ozone Transport Commission): www.otcair.org
Connecticut: www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/regulations/22a/22a-174-1through200.pdf
MD: www.mde.state.md.us/assets/document/air/publichearing/26-11-3_AS_Roofing_Adhesives_TSD.pdf
New Jersey: www.nj.gov/dep/aqm/Sub24,26,34adoption2008.doc (pgs 44-47)
Rhode Island: www.dem.ri.gov/programs/benviron/air/pdf/dr44fs.pdf

Additional information and current status of state implementation dates can be found at www.epdmroofs.org

Carlisle is committed to providing our customers with the products and services they need for their commercial
roofing projects.

Thank you for choosing Carlisle for your commercial roofing needs.