Green Technology

With spiraling energy costs and environmental responsibility, comes the move to Green Technology.  A variety of roof systems are available to customers seeking energy conservation alternatives, via Green Technology.  Green roof choices cover a wide range of price points and levels of complexity – from the extensive “Garden Roof”, to “Brite-White” membranes, or white elastomeric coatings for existing membrane or metal roof systems.  Energy savings and conservation responsibility can also be achieved through investments in additional roof insulation, ventilation components, as well as options for recycling used materials and the use of new products composed of recycled materials or roof-top solar panels.

Standard Roofing Company works with customers to help select the best investment in Green Technology for each customer’s specific needs and investment level.

• Comply with all applicable environmental laws and regulations.
• Incorporate environmental considerations in the company's planning and operational decisions.
• Develop and communicate environmental objectives throughout the company so that all employees understand their individual responsibilities and are appropriately trained to carry out these objectives.
• Manage operations in a responsible manner and respond ffectively to avoid and/or mitigate adverse environmental impacts associated with operations.
• Periodically assess operations to measure and assure environmental law compliance.
• Foster a constructive working relationship with environmental organizations and agencies.
• Promote and encourage energy efficiency and environmental protection through new and existing technologies.
• Commit resources to implement these principles.

For more information on the cost on Green Technology, please read the following article.

Busting the Myth That Green Costs More Green.pdf

A roof system on a Minnesota building demonstrates energy-saving technology
by Tim Leonard, CEM, and Tony Leonard

Since the energy crisis of the '70s, corporate America has worked toward improving the energy efficiency of its buildings. The motivation was simple—any energy savings directly affected the bottom line. As energy-saving measures first were implemented, it became obvious some measures had a higher or faster return than others. Corporations initially implemented measures that were easy to quantify, such as lighting upgrades and additional insulation in roofs and walls that provided a definable return on investment during a definable time period. >> Read More

Carlisle SynTec Roof Garden System

Centuries old, the roof garden concept has been most recently embraced in Europe. Both functional and aesthetically-appealing, this technology improves the structure's energy efficiency while adding plant life in populated areas.

Currently, the focus on improving the quality of life in urban environments has made these issues more pertinent than ever. Roof Gardens meet the objectives of many of the mandates to improve the air quality of cities by mitigating the effects of heat islands caused by ever increasing development. The benefits of the modern Roof Garden have been demonstrated by the US Green Building Council's endorsement of these systems through the LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficient Design) certification program.

Carlisle's Roof Garden System provides a variety of waterproofing options with a full line of accessories to insure a high performance system. This includes a range of membranes such as the 60-mil thick EPDM and the TPO which are ideal for the Ultra Extensive Roof Gardens (shallow) with standard 10-15 year warranties. Roof gardens 4" to 8" in depth are classified as a Medium Assembly requiring 75-mil thick EPDM or 72-mil thick TPO membranes for 10-15 year warranties. For the Intensive Roof Gardens (deep), the membrane options include Carlisle's toughest membranes -- 90-mil thick EPDM and 80-mil thick TPO. Carlisle also offers an option to mop down the AFX FleeceBACK EPDM membranes over two plies of base felts to provide a durable hybrid system.

Advantages of the Roof Garden

• Reduces urban heat island effects
• Storm water run-off management
• Adds valuable/useable space providing economic benefits
• Energy efficiency year-round
• Air and water purification

Carlisle's Roof Garden Systems

Carlisle's Roof Garden Components
Protection Fabric - Carlisle CCW 200V (12oz/sq. yd.) and 300HV (16oz/ sq. yd.) are polypropylene non-woven needle-punched fabric, which is
stabilized to resist soil chemicals, mildew, insects and is nonbiodegradable. Available in rolls 12.5' in width by 200' in length.
CCW MiraDrain™ GR 9200 Drainage Board consists of a high impact polystyrene core with “cups” and pierced holes allowing water retention and drainage. A non-woven polypropylene filter fabric is bonded to the retention side of the molded core to prevent passage of particles into the water reservoirs. CCW MiraDrain is designed to retain water in roof gardens while allowing excess water to the drainage system. It can be installed over CCW 200V or 300 HV protection fabric. CCW MiraDrain GR 9200 is 0.4" thick with a Water flow rate of 140-145 gpm/sq. ft. (ASTM D 4491).Packaged in 4' x 50' rolls.
CCW MiraDrain HC Drainage Board is a high flow drainage composite. It consists of a high impact polystyrene core with a non-woven polypropylene filter fabric on the top and bottom sides to prevent passage of particles into the drainage core. It is used in roof gardens as an alternative to drainage gravel and protection fabric beneath the growth medium.
Root Barrier - Carlisle 40-mil non-reinforced GeoMembrane™ is a non-reinforced polypropylene sheet specifically formulated for use in below grade applications to resist root growth and soil bacteria sheets may be heat welded together. It is available in widths of 12' and lengths of 100'.
Moisture Retention Mat - A normal 24.3 oz/sq. yd., 0.3" thick mat consisting of needle-punched, recycled synthetic fibers designed to retain moisture in roof gardens. Available in rolls 12' in width by 60' in length

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Carlisle SynTec
P.O. Box 7000, Carlisle, PA 17013
800-4-SYNTEC Fax: 717-245-7053

EcoStar Is Premium Roofing

http://www.ecostar.carlisle.com/

August 18, 2003
Shining a Light on Energy Conservation

By Katrina C. Arabe

By cutting back on your plant's energy usage, you can reduce costs, help ease the country's energy problem and benefit the environment. And all it takes is a switch to energy-efficient lighting:

Look closely at your plant or factory, and you will find tremendous opportunities to conserve energy and to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, the industrial sector accounts for 70% of U.S. electricity consumption with power plants representing the largest single source of pollution in the country. Thus, by keeping a lid on your plant's energy usage, you can significantly curtail harmful emissions—and save yourself a bundle as well.

Energy conservation in the plant can be accomplished in many ways—with most centering on heating, cooling and lighting. The most straightforward of these approaches is often installing energy-efficient lighting fixtures. Consider this: lighting constitutes up to one-fourth of the electricity we consume, costing over $37 billion a year, says the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

While a typical household devotes 5-10% of its energy budget on lighting, commercial and industrial facilities spend up to 30% on lighting. And according to DOE estimates, the majority of lighting installations—both residential and commercial—squander about half or more of the energy they consume because of outdated equipment, poor maintenance or inefficient usage.

Growing Emphasis on Energy Conservation

Indeed, energy conservation is becoming more urgent because electricity consumption is growing much faster than our power generating capacity. According to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA), electricity consumption increased 2.2% a year over the last decade, while generating capacity grew only at an annual rate of 0.8%. And the EIA anticipates another 36% increase—or 1.8% growth per year—in national demand over the next 20 years.

To keep up with this rising electricity demand and to compensate for scheduled plant retirements, we will need 355,000 megawatts of additional capacity, says the EIA, which corresponds to 35 1,000-megawatt power plants. But more than 350 power-generating projects were postponed or scrapped last year, the EIA reports, reflecting the mounting difficulty of building new power plants due to economic, environmental and community opposition. This resistance is part of the reason that the average age of U.S. power plants has risen to nearly 40 years. If it weren't for the recession of 2001-2002, says the agency, we would be experiencing severe electricity shortages.

While generating on-site power is one way that manufacturers can ease the energy problem, conserving energy is perhaps the swiftest solution. And focusing on lighting makes sense because a simple retrofit can mean substantial savings and environmental benefits.

Seeing the Light

One manufacturer that expects to reap considerable benefits from a lighting change is Quad/Graphics, a multi-plant, global printing company based in Wisconsin. The company recently overhauled the lighting in its eight U.S. printing facilities, switching from highintensity- discharge (HID) lights to highly efficient fluorescent fixtures.

These two types of light—HID and fluorescent—are regarded as the most suitable for industrial purposes out of the four basic types of lighting. (Incandescent and low-pressure sodium complete this list). While the primary application of fluorescent lighting is in commercial indoor lighting systems, HID is employed in both indoor and outdoor systems. HID lamps last long and offer high efficacy—the ratio of light output to power consumption— but they tend to produce more heat than other lamps. In fact, Quad/Graphics' old HID lights burned at 1,200 degrees while their new fluorescent fixtures average only about 120 degrees.

By replacing HID lights with fluorescent ones, Quad/Graphics expects to save over 30 million kilowatt hours and $2 million a year. This will allow the company to remove 3.5 megawatts of power from the electrical grid—sufficient energy to power 3,750 homes or a population of 16,800, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The company's lighting retrofit will also likely have significant environmental benefits over two decades—comparable to taking out 114,697 cars from the road or conserving more than 73 million gallons of gas. This will deal a huge blow to emissions, stopping the release of 459,180 tons of carbon dioxide, 125,220 tons of carbon, 1,680 tons of sulfur dioxide, 3,920 tons of nitrous oxides, and 70.8 lbs. of mercury.

The lighting retrofit also delivered the extra benefit of improving workspaces in the company's facilities. Using full-spectrum light, Quad/Graphics was able to expand footcandle readings by over 50% on average. "Quad/Graphics has long believed that what's good for business is good for the environment," says Thomas Quadracci, president and CEO. "And this project is proof positive. Our employees benefit from better-quality light and the community benefits from a reduction in electrical use and its associated impacts."

As this example has shown, a simple change can go a long way in solving a complicated problem. By switching to energy-efficient lighting in your plant, you can ease energy consumption, help protect the environment from harmful emissions and enjoy huge savings as well.

Industrial Market Trends, a comprehensive, daily industrial blog with a bi-weekly newsletter, publishes the latest industrial developments, best practices, market trends and opinions of our editors and readers. We welcome all our readers to post their opinions on any of our articles.
Copyright Thomas Publishing Company LLC
For more information: http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT

The Cool Roofing Trend
It is hard to believe that it has been seven years since the turn of the century. Much has changed in our world and sadly, much has stayed the same. Continuing violence in the Middle East has not only proven how fragile our global political balance is, it has demonstrated how tenuous our energy supply has become in North America. A series of unfortunate weather events on the Gulf Coast have added to concerns about our nation’s ability to source its own fossil fuel. Rolling blackouts in California and a major blackout on the East Coast have further demonstrated the volatile nature of our power structure. The resulting skyrocketing of fuel costs for homes, vehicles and industry is likely to be the primary catalyst for emerging trends in the roofing industry in the next decade.

Background
Just as the energy crisis of the 70’s propelled the roofing industry towards innovative modified bitumen roofing alternatives, today’s energy crisis is already precipitating a new generation of roofing technologies. Roofing manufacturers, power companies, governmental bodies and environmentalist organizations are collaborating on novel and innovative ways to conserve energy.

Ultimately, the growth of cool roofing will bedetermined by the combined influences of energy, material costs, building envelope performance requirements, legislative mandates/incentives and advancements in roofing material technologies.

Vegetative roofing and photovoltaic technologies remain at the cutting edge of those efforts. However, they are not likely to gain substantive market share in the next decade without governmental intervention in the form of mandates or incentives unless energy costs rise high enough to substantially shorten the return on investment interval for such technologies. In some urban areas this is already happening with vegetative systems, due to their combined benefits of energy saving and sewer-water run-off reduction. In the interim however, the most likely scenario for the next decade is for the roofing industry to see its most significant growth in the area of cool roofing technologies.

The Cool Roofing Trend
One of the hottest concerns today is Peak Energy Demand (PED). PED is defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as “the
maximum electricity used to meet the cooling load of a building or buildings in a given area.” Although there are a myriad of other energy demands created by a building each and every day that are not related to PED, the phenomenon of rolling blackouts has made PED reduction of critical concern. PED ultimately affects how much energy is required from a specific power grid to satisfy community needs. On a July mid-afternoon in Southern California with cooling demands at their highest
level, it is critical to have enough power to satisfy demand.

National programs such as Energy Star® have been launched in recent years to promote PED reduction. The Energy Star program represents a voluntary partnership between businesses and the federal government to promote energy efficiency and
environmental activities. When it was initiated in 1998, the program focused on household devices such as computers and washing machines. Since then it has moved on to encompass building envelope products such as windows and roofing, reintroducing terms such as reflectivity and emissivity to the roofing industry vocabulary.

Next-Generation Reflectivity and Emissivity
The science behind reflective and emissive roof systems is fairly simple. Any traditional roof system is exposed to radiation produced by the sun. This radiation is either absorbed or reflected based mostly on the color of the roof system. Traditional white roofs reflect more sunlight than darker roof systems. But light from the sun comes not only from visible sunlight it also comes in the form of infrared radiation (or heat). The phenomena associated with absorbing or reflecting heat is known as
emissivity.
Highly emissive roof systems reflect a large portion of the infrared radiation. As the surface of the roof system heats up, due to absorbed visible and infrared light, the entire roof system heats up. Although the insulation layers in the roof system can help reduce the amount of heat that passes from the roof’s surface to the building below, the use of cool, reflective products on the surface helps to further reduce the surface temperature thereby reducing the potential elevation of the building temperature. Ultimately, the growth of cool roofing will be determined by the combined influences of energy, material costs, building envelope performance requirements, legislative mandates/incentives and advancements in roofing material technologies.
There is therefore a direct relationship between reducing PED and increasing the reflectivity and emissivity of the surface roofing product.

Regulatory and Other Drivers
Historically, the Energy Star program has required an initial reflectance of 65 percent with a three-year maintained reflectance of 50 percent. In view of continually escalating energy costs, there is an effort underway to increase the reflectivity requirements for Energy Star qualification and to add to the standards requirements for emissivity.

The Cool Roof Rating Council (CRRC) also established in 1998, was organized to “develop accurate and credible methods for evaluating and labeling the solar reflectance and thermal emittance of roofing products and to disseminate the information to all interested parties.” One of those interested parties was and continues to be the California Energy Commission (CEC). The CEC is charged with the creation and maintenance of Title 24 in the State of California. Title 24 is a somewhat all-consuming regulation that looks at all facets of facility construction. Although the standard was established in 1978, a great deal of revision has occurred over the last several years. Today’s standard specifically speaks to “cool roofing” in Section 3.4. For low- lope, non-residential roofing Title 24 calls for a minimum initial reflectance of 0.70 and an initial minimum emittance of 0.75.

Although the State of California has pioneered energy-related governmental mandates, other states including Arizona, Florida, Georgia and Idaho have already followed its lead by including reflective roofing mandates in their building codes. In addition, many urban areas including Chicago, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento and Austin, Texas now specifically address cool technology in their building codes. The availability of tax breaks, rebates and incentives for using cool products–in these and other areas–is further contributing to the industry’s demand for new cool roofing technologies.

Other national programs have been launched as well. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) through its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) pro-gram has created a “benchmark for the design, construction and operation of a high performance green building.” The LEED program as with the CEC program looks at the entire building and rates many of the materials and designs used in the construction for their “energy efficiency.” LEED specifically requires a Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) of 78. SRI is a calculated value that combines the reflectance and the emittance of the surface material.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) in ASHRAE Standard 90.1 also discusses the use of cool roofing. This widely acknowledged national standard is recognized and referenced by a multitude of building codes. ASHRAE Standard 90.1 cites a reflectance of 0.70 with an emittance of 0.75.

Although many of the standards allow for trade-offs between the use of reflective roofing and the more traditional use of insulation, the industry trend is clearly towards recognizing the energy efficiency of the roofing system itself and designing new systems and technologies to improve that efficiency.

In the decade ahead, we expect that legislation will continue to help drive national trends. As more and more states and localities begin to recognize the potential energy-saving advantages of cool roofs, the demand for innovative new cool roofing technologies will continue to grow. Recent numbers published by the NRCA indicate a growth in market share of many of the product categories that include cool roof products.

Cool roofing frequently can be achieved costeffectively within the confines of traditional rooftop applications.

Material Considerations
Unlike vegetative or photovoltaic solutions, cool roofing frequently can be achieved cost-effectively within the confines of traditional rooftop applications. Today’s reflective technologies can be found in our industry’s most popular product categories such as coatings, mineral surfacings, single-ply thermo-plastic membranes, metal roofing, modified bitumen membranes and many others. The adaptability of cool roofing technologies is a major reason why they are expected to dominate the sustainable roofing category in the decade ahead.

In addition, roofing material manufacturers are expected to develop original new approaches to achieving reflectivity and emissivity in response to the growing market demand for cool roofing. Industry trade associations are already actively promoting and monitoring the development of cool roofing alternatives. In 2004, the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA) formed a task group to monitor cool roofing issues. A year earlier, the Roof Coating Manufacturers Association (RCMA) formed the White Coating Council to help promote cool roofing solutions. The National Roof Contractor Association (NRCA) has
embraced reflectivity and emissivity in its new SpecRight Program. Other industrial trade associations such as the Cool Metal Roofing Coalition (CMRA) and the Reflective Roof Coating Institute (RRCI) have been formed to educate the industry regarding different approaches to cool roofing technology. Clearly, the roofing industry is moving rapidly forward to meet the challenge and the opportunity presented by today’s energy concerns.

Ultimately, the growth of the cool roofing category will be determined by the combined influences of energy and material costs, building envelope performance requirements, legislative man-dates or incentives and advancements in roofing material technologies. The cool roofing options already available provide great potential for energy savings and conservation. In the decade ahead we will see even more exciting alternatives to increase the sustainability of the total building envelope in response to the volatility of today’s energy market.

Joe Mellott is director of technology for The Garland Company, Inc., a Cleveland, Ohio-based manufacturer of high-performance solutions for the commercial building envelope.

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