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This year, as in years past, retail sales are expected to be literally through the roof. Not only do retail sales tend to spike between October 31st and December 25th, this year’s spike is expected to be up to 5 percent larger than in 2018. All told, consumers are projected to spend up to $1.1 trillion during this year’s holiday season. Why do you – a facility manager – care about retail roofing during this year’s holiday season? Here are some good reasons:       Let’s say that your single department store takes up an entire building, or at least an entire wing of a building. A roof leak or – much worse – a roofing collapse may put a large portion of the building, or even the entire building, out of commission. The store will have decreased floor space to sell items, and shoppers may be put off by the appearance of a disheveled building.       Let’s say instead that your facility is a mall where your tenants rent storefronts. Leaks and other roof damage wil...

Not all roofs are created the same – or even with the same pitch. When we talk about commercial roof slope, we usually talk about a completely flat roof. With that said, not every commercial roof is flat. Sloped commercial roofs are common in several parts of the country, either for decorative or weather-related reasons. On the one hand, it’s as important to protect a sloped commercial roof as it is to protect a flat commercial roof. On the other hand, the pitch of a sloped commercial roof can make it difficult to design rooftop supports, walkways, and other features designed to improve the safety and longevity of your roof. How do you compensate for roof slope when designing rooftop supports? Commercial Roofs: Flat vs. Sloped  Why would someone choose a flat commercial roof over a sloped roof in the first place? Although flat residential and commercial roofs are the default in regions such as the West Coast, you still tend to see flat-roofed commercial buildings even areas like th...

How old is your roof right now? Given that a commercial roof may have anywhere from a 20-year lifespan to a 50-year lifespan, it’s likely that you didn’t inherit your commercial roof when it was new. What’s more, no matter how badly your roof was treated before you started working, the success of your job depends on making your newly inherited roof last as long as possible. Fortunately, resourceful facility managers can make a huge difference in the longevity and performance of a commercial roof. If you’re punctual about roof maintenance, inspection, and record-keeping, you can restore an older roof to its former glory and even keep it in perfect condition long after its projected lifespan has run out. Learn how to develop a strategic roof asset management plan that will help make scheduling and budgeting for maintenance easier and lead to better decisions. Understanding Your Roof Upon receiving control of your roof, you immediately need to know a number of things about it. It starts w...

Creating sustainable roofing has always been a great way to prove your merits as an eco-conscious organization, but there’s far more to it than that. With traditional asphalt roofs lasting a mere 20 years or so, eco-friendly roofs are about more than just doing your part for the environment—they’ll save you money in the long run as well. From green roofs to solar panels, here’s how sustainability makes a great investment for your next commercial roof. The Grass is Greener on your Green Roof A green roof—which is to say a roof on which vegetation is deliberately encouraged to grow—is a complicated yet beautiful addition to any commercial roof. Whereas a traditional roof may have two or three layers, green roofs have up to seven: membrane, roof repellant, insulation, drainage, filtering, soil, and the plants themselves. While the aesthetic result is often worth it—especially in urban office buildings in which the roof is actually visible to the surroundings—there are more benefits to a g...

The climate is indisputably changing. We notice it in things like hotter summers, more intense storms, and longer hurricane seasons. What we notice, your roof notices too. Depending on the location of your building, you’ll find that extreme weather will impact the design of your roof – and what’s more, extreme weather is likely to keep on getting more extreme. This means that in order to maximize the lifespan of your roof, you don’t just need to build: you need to overbuild, anticipating the ways in which climate will change in order to meet a moving target. How do you create resilient roofing in the wake of a changing climate? Climate Concerns Make Resilient Roofing into a Challenge Although winters may be getting milder overall, a warming planet leads to more moisture in the atmosphere – so when snow happens, you’ll see more intense blizzards. This has obvious implications for roofing – but some of the implications are less clear. For example, you might see occasional heavy blizzards...

Your rooftop is crowded. As far as your rooftop is concerned, your workforce may need to navigate next to steep drop-offs, over ledges, around cable runs, and past skylights. Putting a foot in the wrong place can have negative consequences, if you’re not careful. As a commercial building owner or manager, it is your responsibility to provide a safe rooftop access system, safety equipment, and safety training for your maintenance workers, contractors, and building personnel. Here’s what you need to know. Provide Safe Rooftop Access Systems or Suffer the Consequences They say that “every safety rule is written in blood,” and the safety statistics for rooftop accidents bear this statement out. In the entire industry of building construction and maintenance, rooftops are one of the largest sources of accident, injury, and lawsuits.   Between 1992 and 2009, falls from rooftops made up 33 percent of falling-related fatalities within the construction industry   OSHA requires building...

Commercial buildings are getting larger. Of the 55 percent of buildings built between 1960 and 1999, the average size is 16,300 square feet. Meanwhile, the buildings built since 1999 have an average size of 19,000 square feet – an increase of almost 3,000 square feet. What does this have to do with sustainable roofing? Bigger buildings mean bigger roofs. A one-story warehouse with an average size of 19,000 square feet will need more than 19,000 square feet of roofing material to cover it up. That’s a vast amount of surface area – surface area that’s usually flat or at a very slight pitch. In other words, it’s a surface that makes a perfect foundation – flat and barely occupied – for sustainability. If you found an extra 19,000 square feet of space in your building, you’d use it for something, right? And since you can’t really use a roof as a loading dock or a packing and sorting facility, your best bet is to use your roof to pay for the rest of your building. Using the right materials,...

The climate is indisputably changing. We notice it in things like hotter summers, more intense storms, and longer hurricane seasons. What we notice, your roof notices too. Depending on the location of your building, you’ll find that extreme weather will impact the design of your roof – and what’s more, extreme weather is likely to keep on getting more extreme. This means that in order to maximize the lifespan of your roof, you don’t just need to build: you need to overbuild, anticipating the ways in which climate will change in order to meet a moving target. How do you create resilient roofing in the wake of a changing climate? Climate Concerns Make Resilient Roofing into a Challenge Although winters may be getting milder overall, a warming planet leads to more moisture in the atmosphere – so when snow happens, you’ll see more intense blizzards. This has obvious implications for roofing – but some of the implications are less clear. For example, you might see occasional heavy blizzards...

Building managers must contend with various obstacles and elements that can wreak havoc on commercial rooftops and any equipment stored on them. Each aspect of the roof—from the membrane to the roof edge—requires regular maintenance and inspection. Without the right rooftop equipment, however, your workers will be unable to do their job without endangering themselves or the commercial roof that they’re trying to protect. In order to ensure the safety of your workforce and the longevity of your roof, facility managers need to invest in these four proven products. By investing in rooftop supports, access walkways, equipment platforms, and more, you’ll be able to dramatically extend the lifespan of your roof—recapturing your initial investment several times over. Rooftop Equipment Platforms A lot of equipment goes on top of the commercial roof because it’s not easy to fit anywhere else. Generators, HVAC pumps, satellite dishes, and even telecom antennae are all commonly placed on commerci...

Regular maintenance is essential in preserving the condition of your commercial roof and ensuring its longevity — as well as helps building managers save money in the long run by avoiding needless and unexpected repairs. By utilizing rooftop support equipment, building managers are taking proactive steps to protect commercial roofing and making it easier for maintenance personnel to perform routine commercial roof maintenance. How Does Commercial Roof Maintenance Fail Without Rooftop Supports? Let’s imagine a commercial roof without any traditional rooftop supports. Pipes, cables, and ventilation ducts simply lie on the roof surface, there are no equipment platforms, there are no stairs or crossovers, and there are no elevated access walkways (with built-in railings) near the roof perimeter. The first problem is that it becomes much harder to inspect certain parts of the building. In a nutshell, any time employees work closer than 15 feet from a roof edge, OSHA regulations require the ...

When you discover issues with your commercial roof, you may wonder whether a total roof replacement is in your near future, or whether you can get by with a simple repair. We discuss common signs of trouble, what they could mean, and how to make the right decision for your roof. Will Your Roof Live Out its Designed Lifespan? Most commercial roofs get replaced long before the theoretical lifespan of their materials runs out. An asphalt roof might technically last up to 22 years, but without regular inspection and maintenance, it may only last 15. A TPO roof might last up to 30 years, but if it’s exposed to constant UV or assailed by windborne debris, it might only last 20. Your goal as a facility manager is to make sure that your commercial roof lasts as long as possible before it needs replacement. This means that the expense of paying for a new commercial roof (which can be vast, depending on the size of your building) will be amortized over many years, diminishing its relative expens...

Commercial roofs are the most vulnerable and also the most important part of any commercial building. Although the commercial roof plays a vital role in insulating the building and situating building infrastructure, it’s also surprisingly delicate. It can be damaged by high winds, debris, or even something as small as an errant footstep. What’s more, damage tends to become ramified. A pinhole in the membrane turns into a leak, which turns into rot, and suddenly your have to replace a roof beam. For this reason, your roof needs constant inspection, care, and maintenance—otherwise it will never last out its designed lifespan. Not only does the roof need general maintenance year-round, it also needs season-specific maintenance designed to mitigate damage from thunderstorms, tornados, hurricanes, snowstorms, and more. Begin with a Thorough Inspection Let’s assume that you’ve just inherited your commercial roof—it’s your first day as a facility manager at a building that’s completely new to...

You may have noticed that other commercial buildings have HVAC systems, solar panels, and other equipment stored on their rooftops. You may also wonder if you should do the same for your building but aren’t certain about the reasons why commercial buildings keep equipment on their rooftops. Good news—the benefits of storing heavy equipment on a rooftop far outweigh any negatives. In fact, you can compensate for potential negatives by planning your rooftop layout and investing in a complete rooftop support system. Let’s explore the benefits of storing equipment on your rooftop, as well as the disadvantages of doing so. Why Store Equipment on the Rooftop? Lower Maintenance Needs When you move your HVAC system to your roof, you help protect against weather elements on the ground. You don’t have to worry about leaves blocking airflow and don’t have to worry as much about other types of debris damaging your HVAC unit. You also prevent accidental damage from vehicles and vandalism from those...

Working on rooftops can be dangerous. According to BLS.gov, roofing workers had one of the highest rates of nonfatal falls, with 86.9 cases per 10,000 full-time workers in 2016. In 2020, the number of fatal accidents for roofers was 50 per 100,000 full-time workers. It’s not surprising that working on rooftops incurs risk, with heavy lifting, frequent climbing, and working in the scorching heat. OSHA considers roof safety to be paramount, and it’s something that commercial/industrial building managers must consider. While falls are one of the most prominent injuries that occurs when working on roofs, there are other potential risks. Commercial/industrial building managers can help mitigate many of these risks by providing safer working conditions on the roof, much of which can be accomplished with the use of rooftop support equipment. Let’s examine some common risks and assess how rooftop support equipment can supplement your safety plans. Types of Injuries Falls are the leading cause ...