2016 was a year where a more confident economy helped grow the level of roofing demand. Commercial roofing demand grew at a healthy rate nationally, with particular strength in the West and Midwest, although the third quarter did witness a breather in the pace of demand. New residential construction roofing demand has continued to pick up, although single family construction still only comprises 1.4 percent of Gross Domestic Product – below historical norms of at least 2 percent1, indicating that there is still more new construction growth to come. This year was also characterized by large regional variations in residential reroofing. Stronger economic demand in the Southeast was complemented by large storms in the Southwest. The Northeast is still recovering from the pull-forward of demand from the storms of 2014 and the warmer winter of the past while the season got off to a late start in the Midwest. In the West, demand was impacted by Title 24 regulatory changes that mandated adoption of more reflective shingle products. Environmental laws and preferences continue to bring the roof into the environmental evaluation, whether it’s LEED® v4 treating the roof as part of the overall structure, increasing interest in water retention systems being more closely tied to the roof, or the roof being more of a factor in resilient design. As more companies adopt environmental and energy platforms, understanding these trends is becoming much more important in the selling process.
This year highlighted the importance of easy-to-flex, next-generation supply chains. Regional variations and rapid changes in demand meant that roofing manufacturers and distributors had to respond quickly, revealing the importance of next-generation supply chains. Backlogs and delays showed that some parts of the industry have further work to do in order to systemize and expand the flexible nature of their supply chains.