A Truly Sustainable Roofing Product

Sustainability is the current focus of many Architect and Design firms and is a key component in the Green Building movement.  As a result, roofing manufacturers have been clamoring to come up with ways to promote their products as the latest and best product to meet the growing need. To truly evaluate the sustainability of any roofing product, you first need to understand the true intention of the term.

Definition:

“Sustain – to cause to continue (As in an existence of current state, or in force, or intensity); to keep up, especially without interruption, diminution, flagging, etc.; to prolong”

Webster’s New International Dictionary. (Springfield, Mass.: Mirriam-Webster Inc., 1986)

Most roofing companies try to meet this claim by using a portion of the roof being torn off as a recycled content in a new single-ply membrane or converting it into other forms such as park benches. These are great goals, however the allowable recycled content that goes into most manufacturers “recipes” is less than 2%, and as one architect recently stated “I get the concept of the Park Bench, but I’ve never actually seen one that’s been produced.”

The fact is roofing waste from non-sustainable roofing practices accounts for 20% of all landfill space being used today. This fact alone should drive companies to seek the most sustainable options for their roofing needs, especially when they prove to be the most economical solutions as well.

National Coatings Corp (NCC) believes that a truly sustainable roof is one that can remain in place and offer an indefinite service life if properly serviced and maintained. NCC has roofs that have been installed and maintained and show little to no diminishing of the roofing substrates performance value since our company was founded over 35 years ago. The best part is our products can be used on any kind of roofing substrate including built-up, metal, single-ply, SPF, and concrete, and attain the same level of performance. Most other roofing companies say a coating system should only be used as a maintenance option to extend the life of a roof until a potential customer can afford to put on a new roof of the same type that has just failed. The question to ask is …“if I can extend the life of my roof by coating it, why can’t I just keep recoating at regular intervals and extend the life of my roof indefinitely.” The fact is with proper preparation and continued maintenance you can.

National Coatings offers two systems to meet almost any roofing need.

Our ARM system is a great option for people with roofs that are in good condition or that have a metal or SPF roofing substrate. It uses a simple two-step approach of a base coat and top coat and can be selectively reinforced with polyester fabric to help with problem areas such as waterways and “bird baths” that can be prone to failure. The system is designed to last 10 years and can be recoated indefinitely with just two gallons of topcoat to achieve an additional 10 years of performance each time. It is a proven option to sustain your roof and is a great value proposition as well.

Our Acryply System is a great option for people whose roofs are in poor condition. The system uses slightly more coating and uses reinforcing fabric throughout to achieve an incredible performance package. The best part about the Acryply System is that it can be engineered to give you 10, 15, or 20 years of service life. As with the ARM system above, when the life expectancy has been achieved, the system can be recoated with just two gallons of topcoat every 10 years and will remain a high performing roof as long as you need.

Performance through Innovation®

National Coatings has spent thirty years refining and developing products for these particular application techniques. Our state-of-the-art A502 and A503 base coats for built-up roofs and single-ply's do not require us to use caustic or sacrificial primers for proper adhesion to the intended substrate. The high resistance to ponded water of these base coats offers the extended life expectancies without fear of failure unlike low cost coatings that have a high likelihood of blistering and peeling.

Our top coats offer some of the highest performance standards on the Cool Roof Rating Council website. These rating are some of the highest initial values, but more importantly offer the highest aged value performance ratings on the entire site. The CRRC is an independent test group that measures the performance values of many roofing products and is used by the EPA to establish Energy Star Compliance. Click the link: CRRC Rated Products and see National Coatings product offerings and ratings.

Summary

Sustainable roofing is a real option when quality coating products are used. National Coatings products offer a building owner the opportunity to never replace their roof again with proper preparation, application, and maintenance.
We have life-cycle-cost studies on the website where projects are being coated for the second time. While the ethical value of a sustainable roof is commendable by not filling limited landfill space with wasted material, it’s even better that it will save a tremendous amount of money for the building owner. To schedule a roof walk and find out which system is right for you, call 800-423-9557.