Flashings

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Students study green roof systems

A group of eighth-grade students at Dr. Bessie Rhodes Magnet School in Skokie, Ill., is using a grant pro­vided by BP America Inc.'s A+ For Energy program to study green roof systems' benefits.

For the study, two freestanding structures will be built—one with a traditional roof system and one with a green roof system featuring GeoEdge,™ a sustainable aluminum roof restraint manufactured by Permaloc Corp., Holland, Mich., and pre-vegetated modules provided by LiveRoof, Spring Lake, Mich. The students will document the roof systems' effects through film and photography that will be included in "Reel Energy: Pay it Forward," a documentary film.

"Students will be able to research the benefits of a green roof system, particularly water runoff and temperature effects," says Mary Beth Koszut, a fine arts teacher at Dr. Bessie Rhodes Magnet School. "The green roof project will have a positive visual and scientific impact on our students as they enter into a society with ever-increasing energy concerns.

AIA and USGBC form alliance

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) have developed a strategic alliance to advance the organizations' shared goals and complete existing collaborative activities.

The strategic alliance and associated work plan focuses on advocacy, education and research. Additionally, the organizations share common goals related to making buildings carbon-neutral by 2030.

The strategic alliance includes an annual leadership meeting, regular meetings between senior staff leadership, and reciprocal sponsorship of USGBC's Greenbuild International Conference and Expo and AIA's annual convention."

Dow Building Solutions announces price increases

Dow Building Solutions, Midland, Mich., a business unit of Midland-based The Dow Chemical Co., has raised prices 10 percent in Canada and the U.S. for all product lines.

The price increases went into effect July 1 for STYROFOAM™ extruded polystyrene insulations; Dow polyisocyanurate insulations; Dow High Performance Underlayment & Protection Board (Fanfold); WEATHERMATE™ brand housewraps; STYROFOAM spray polyurethane insulations; GREAT STUFF™; GREAT STUFF PRO™; ENERFOAM™; INSTASTIK™; TILE-BOND™; FROTH-PAK™ insulation and sealants; STYROFOAM Sill Seal; and WEATHERMATE construction tape and straight, flexible and sill pan flashings.

The price increases went into effect July 15 for STYROFOAM panel core products, STYROFOAM oncology board products, STYROFOAM surf board products and TRYMER™ polyisocyanurate pipe insulations.

"The price of oil has risen drastically during the past year—80 percent—and natural gas prices have increased 40 percent," says Torsten Kraef, Dow Building Solutions' president and general manager. "The building materials industry, like many other Dow businesses, is feeling the pain of this phenomenon at many levels. Transportation costs have been drastically affected by the rising price of fuel. With margins quickly eroding, we must take these steps now in order to meet customer demand for our products and reinvest in the future."

Prices increase at Freudenberg Politex Group and Freudenberg Texbond

Freudenberg Politex Group, Novedrate, Italy, and Freudenberg Texbond LP, Macon, Ga., its U.S. subsidiary, which produce polyester non-wovens sold mainly as reinforcements for bituminous roof membranes and insulation materials, have increased prices for all products. Details regarding the increases' amounts and dates of effectiveness differ according to country and business segment and have not been released by the company.

Freudenberg Politex cites increased costs of raw materials, transportation, labor, energy and other utilities as reasons for the price increases.

Details

Calandria JohnLouis

What is your position within your company?
I am project manager for Crown Roofing Services Inc., Kenner, La.

Why did you become a roofing contractor?
It was the family business. I was born into it, and I actually wound up liking it.

What was your first roofing experience?
Working in our office as a child and measuring roofs with my dad before I was old enough to know it wasn't "girly"

If you weren't a roofing contractor, what do you think you would be?
My husband tells me I should have been a race car driver.

What do you consider your most rewarding experience?
Helping students through our scholarship program

List three words that best describe you.
Driven, detail-oriented and chameleon

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Italy

What three items are always in your fridge?
Salad dressing, ketchup and jelly

What is your biggest pet peeve?
Unnecessary nonsense

What quality do you most like in a person?
A sense of humor

If you could invite any three people to dinner (dead or alive), whom would you invite and why?
Prince—he is so talented—I would love to hear him talk for a while; Ellen DeGeneres—she would keep the conversation lively and funny; and Bobby Flay—someone has to cook the meal!

What are the most challenging aspects of your job?
Dealing with employee issues, differing office personalities and politics, and difficult architects and owners

What is your roofing industry involvement?
I am on NRCA's board of directors.

People would be surprised to know…
You can be a roofing worker and a girly girl at the same time. There's nothing like climbing a ladder in stilettos and a skirt!

ARCA executive director passes away

Dan Cohen, executive director of the Arizona Roofing Contractors Association (ARCA), passed away June 25. He was 69.

Cohen was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., and moved to Phoenix at age five. He was ARCA's executive director for the past 10 years and served as chairman of NRCA's Affiliates Executive Council for the past two years. He is survived by his children Jamie, Katie, Steven, Lora, Karen, Robert, Michael, Sherry, Christy, Ted, Cynthia and Mandy; Mary Sherrill; Rose Cohen; brothers Peter and Henry; sisters Frances, Vivian and Kathy; 28 grandchildren; and 21 great-grandchildren.

The Dow Chemical Co. acquires Rohm and Haas

The Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich., has reached an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of Philadelphia-based Rohm and Haas Co.'s common stock for $78 per share in cash. Rohm and Haas will keep its name and Philadelphia headquarters.

The Dow Chemical Co. expects the transaction to be meaningfully accretive to earnings two years after its completion. Pre-tax annual cost synergies are expected to be at least $800 million per year. Key areas of cost savings include increased purchasing power for raw materials; manufacturing and supply chain work process improvements; and the elimination of redundant corporate overhead for shared services and governance.

"The acquisition of Rohm and Haas is a defining step in our transformational strategy to shape the 'Dow of Tomorrow'—a high-value, diversified chemicals and materials company, creating the largest specialty chemicals company in the U.S. with a leading global position in performance and value growth priorities," says Andrew N. Lewis, The Dow Chemical Co.'s chairman and chief executive officer.

In July, Dow Building Solutions, Midland, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Co., acquired Stevens® Roofing Systems and Geomembrane Systems, business units of JPS Industries Inc., Holyoke, Mass.