Briefings

Contractor news

Escalante Enterprises selects charity winner

Escalante Enterprises, El Paso, Texas, has chosen 60-year-old Guadalupe Villalba as the company's Rainy Day Bailout charity winner.

This is the second year Escalante Enterprises hosted the charity. Contestants were asked to write a letter explaining the personal or financial hardships keeping them from making vital improvements to their homes.

Villalba inherited her house from her mother who had failed to pay property taxes, and Villalba now is on the verge of foreclosure. The roof system is in poor condition and does not meet U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines to deem the house in "fair condition."

The industry online

Georgia-Pacific Gypsum has added online features to its website, www.gpgypsum.com. The features include the company's new architectural toolbox, a collection of utilities and information assembled to support architects in specifying and selecting Georgia-Pacific Gypsum products.

DaVinci Roofscapes has updated and launched a new website at www.davinciroofscapes.com. The website includes complete information about every DaVinci product line; an enhanced tool bar; technical specifications and downloadable materials for single- and multi-width slate and shake tiles; an architectural toolbox; and a section focused on sustainability and the environment.

The Center for the Polyurethanes Industry of the American Chemistry Council, in cooperation with the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance, launched its Spray Polyurethane Foam Health and Safety website, www.spraypolyurethane.com. The site provides up-to-date information about the benefits and handling of spray polyurethane foam insulation and insulating foam sealant.

Up the ladder

Polyglass® USA has named Natalino Zanchetta its new president and chief executive officer.

MetalTech-USA has added Griggs Systems Inc. as its newest representative with Katia Griggs, founder of Griggs Systems, representing MetalTech-USA in California.

IKO Manufacturing Inc. has named Joseph (Jody) Smith regional sales manager, southeast.

National Coatings Corp. has promoted Jay Napolitano to plant manager.

Tony Guisinger was promoted to general manager of the Anoka, Minn., branch of Firestone Metal Products LLC, Diversified Products LLC's subsidiary.

Manufacturer news

Sika Sarnafil receives recycling certification

Sika Sarnafil, Canton, Mass., is the first U.S. roofing manufacturer to receive certification from UL Environment Inc., an Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Inc. company, for the recycled content of its roof membrane products. The company's 10-foot-wide Sarnafil and Sikaplan roof membranes, PVC Protection Layer and SarnaTred products contain an average of 10 percent recycled vinyl content from pre- and post-consumer sources.

"We are proud to be the first U.S. single-ply roofing manufacturer to receive this designation, and we are confident building owners and specifiers who are looking for sustainable building solutions will welcome this news," says Brian J. Whelan, Sika Sarnafil's senior vice president.

Since beginning its recycling efforts, Sika Sarnafil has recycled more than 6 million square feet of "end of life" roof membrane and more than 24 million pounds of pre-consumer membrane.

GAF Materials reopens manufacturing facility

GAF Materials Corp., Wayne, N.J., will reopen its Gainesville, Texas, TPO manufacturing facility in January 2011. The 185,000-square-foot facility is the largest operational production line in North America solely manufacturing TPO roofing products. The facility also will produce GAF Materials' EverGuard® TPO roof membranes and accessories.

While the plant was closed, all TPO product and accessory manufacturing was handled by the company's Mount Vernon, Ind., facility. The reopening is estimated to create more than 25 local jobs, many of which will be filled by recalled plant personnel.

In addition, GAF Materials has announced all its roofing plants now recycle manufacturing shingle waste. Unsuitable materials such as tabs, punch-outs and shingles not meeting the company's specifications will be recycled, generally for use in asphalt pavement.

GAF Materials also has selected winners for its Text To Win Sweepstakes. Richard Widen, a roofing contractor from Bentonville, Ariz., won the grand prize—a 2010 Ford® F-150 valued at $37,655. Three first-prize winners received a GAF-Elk Timberline® Roofing System; five second-place winners received 30 squares of Timberline Prestique® 30 shingles; and 10 third-place winners received a $100 VISA® Gift Card.

BASF expands blending capabilities

BASF Corp., Orange, Calif., has announced it now offers spray polyurethane foam (SPF) blending capabilities on the West Coast.

Adding SPF blending capabilities in California complements BASF's network of SPF blending capability throughout the U.S., with production also available in Minnesota, South Carolina and Texas.

Additionally, BASF was named the winner of the American Chemistry Council's Center for the Polyurethanes Industry's 2010 Innovation Award during the Polyurethanes 2010 Technical Conference. The conference took place in Houston Oct. 11-13.

BASF won the award for its FilterPave® Porous Pavement System, a post-consumer recycled glass and two-component polyurethane binder system for use in storm water management applications.

Owens Corning invests in facility

Owens Corning Roofing and Asphalt LLC, Atlanta, announced it has invested in its Atlanta roofing facility, which currently produces residential roofing strip shingles for the southeast U.S. and employs about 80 people.

The investment will allow the company to expand the site's manufacturing capability to include aesthetically pleasing, higher-style laminates. John Powers, the Atlanta site's plant leader, says the expansion is scheduled to be finished by the end of 2011.

Other news

Technology partnership announced

AnythingWeather Communications,™ Palm Desert, Calif., has entered a partnership with EagleView Technologies,® Bothell, Wash. Both companies offer technology to help contractors in the roofing and restoration markets track storms and provide roof measurements.

Individual access for both services will be available at www.hailwatch.com and www.eagleview.com by the end of this year.

ICC releases study guide companion

The International Code Council (ICC), Washington, D.C., has released 2009 Green Residential Building Study Companion, part of its popular series of study companions. It is the first study guide to reference the ICC 700-2008 National Green Building Standard, developed by the National Association of Home Builders and ICC, and the 2009 International Energy Conservation and Residential Codes.

The 2009 Green Residential Building Study Companion contains 16 study sessions providing practical learning assignments, expert commentary, illustrations and quizzes with 256 questions to measure information retention.