Flashings

The Alliance partners with universities

The Roofing Industry Alliance for Progress has announced educational partnerships with Auburn University, Auburn, Ala.; Colorado State University, Fort Collins; and University of Florida, Gainesville.

The Alliance will be working with the universities' construction management schools to incorporate more roofing-specific curriculums into the construction management undergraduate degree programs; provide scholarships to students and faculty; and develop internship programs with roofing contractor companies, manufacturers and distributors.

The scholarships and internships are scheduled for the near future; additional competitive scholarships and faculty scholarships for work related to the partnership also will be offered.

"These partnerships are crucial for the roofing industry," says Alliance President Jim MacKimm, executive vice president of Beacon Roofing Supply Inc., Herndon, Va. "We know we need to do a much better job of telling students about career opportunities in roofing and making sure they understand the importance of roofing even if they pursue other careers."

For more information about the Alliance, visit www.roofingindustryalliance.net.

EnergyWise Roof Calculator Online is updated

NRCA's EnergyWise Roof Calculator Online has been updated to include information from the 2012 versions of the International Code Council®'s International Energy Conservation Code® (IECC) and the International Green Construction Code™ (IgCC). The application also includes new minimum long-term thermal resistance values for polyisocyanurate insulation effective Jan. 1, 2014.

EnergyWise Roof Calculator Online offers an interactive graphic method of constructing virtual roof assemblies to evaluate thermal efficiency and denotes minimum thermal insulation requirements established by ASHRAE Standard 90.1, ASHRAE Standard 189.1, IECC and IgCC.

The application prompts users to enter specific roof assembly information, such as roof area, climatic region, heating appliance type and cost, roof openings and roofing materials to be used, and then generates a report summarizing the proposed roof assembly design, estimated heating and cooling costs, and required minimum thermal requirements.

Funding for the update was provided by The Roofing Industry Alliance for Progress. The free application is available on NRCA's website, www.nrca.net.

QualityMark^CM program includes new LTTR values

PIMA's QualityMark program will begin reporting updated long-term thermal resistance (LTTR) values in accordance with ASTM C1289-11, "Standard Specification for Faced Rigid Cellular Polyisocyanurate Thermal Insulation Board," effective Jan. 1, 2014.

The QualityMark certification program is a voluntary program allowing polyisocyanurate manufacturers to obtain third-party certification for the LTTR values of their polyisocyanurate insulation products; polyisocyanurate is the only insulation to be certified by the program for its LTTR value.

"Since its founding, PIMA has been active in the harmonization of relevant standards in an effort to provide greater continuity in the reporting of polyiso roof insulation thermal values throughout North America," says Jared Blum, PIMA's president. "That is why the association implemented the industry-wide QualityMark certified R-value program for rigid polyiso roof insulation in 2004. The update to this standard provides more data to aid in the prediction of long-term thermal performance of polyiso insulation."

For more information about PIMA's QualityMark program, visit www.polyiso.org.

OSHA extends comment period

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has extended the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Occupational Exposure to Crystalline Silica public comment period an additional 47 days. The deadline to submit written comments and testimony regarding the proposed rule has been extended from Dec. 11 to Jan. 27, 2014, to allow stakeholders additional time to comment about the proposed rule and supporting analyses. NRCA was one of several groups pushing the agency for an extension.

OSHA also extended the deadline to submit notices of intention to appear at its informal public hearings from Nov. 12 to Dec. 12.

Public hearings will begin March 18, 2014, and hearings are expected to continue for several weeks. The notice of proposed rulemaking was published in the Federal Registrar Sept. 12, and the proposed rule was made available on OSHA's website, www.osha.gov, Aug. 23.

"We strongly encourage the public to assist in the process of developing a final rule by submitting written comments and participating in public hearings," says Dr. David Michaels, assistant secretary of labor. "We especially hope to hear from employers, workers and public health professionals who have experience in successfully protecting workers from silica-related diseases. We are extending the comment period to ensure we hear from all stakeholders who wish to participate."

A post-hearing comment period will occur after the extended comment period and public hearings. Those who filed a timely written notice of intention to appear will be able to submit post-hearing comments to the docket.

More information, including five fact sheets and procedures for submitting written comments and participating in public hearings, is available at www.osha.gov/silica. Members of the public may comment on the proposal by visiting www.regulations.gov.

OSHA introduces new web resources

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has introduced two new web resources to assist companies with keeping their workers safe from hazardous chemicals: a tool kit to identify safer chemicals to use in place of more hazardous ones and annotated permissible exposure limit (PEL) tables. The tool kit walks employers and workers step by step through information, methods, tools and guidance to eliminate hazardous chemicals or make informed substitution decisions in the workplace for safer chemicals, materials, products or processes. The annotated PEL tables will enable employers to voluntarily adopt newer, more protective workplace exposure limits. The annotated PEL tables show a side-by-side comparison of OSHA's general industry PELs, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health PELs, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recommended exposure limits, and American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienist's threshold limit values. The tool kit can be found at www.osha.gov/dsg/safer_chemicals/index.html, and the annotated PEL tables can be found at www.osha.gov/dsg/annotated-pels/index.html.