Replacing the weathered built-up roof at Mission San Jose High School in Fremont, Calif., could have been a financial burden for this school district’s budget. But replacing it with a cool roof system that incorporates polyesters, SBS modified, and cool coatings helped the district save money while teaching the community about green initiatives.

Replacing the weathered built-up roof at Mission San Jose High School in Fremont, Calif., could have been a financial burden for this school district’s budget. But replacing it with a cool roof system that incorporates polyesters, SBS modified, and cool coatings helped the district save money while teaching the community about green initiatives.

"We restored most of it without tearing it off," says Domenic Morelli, executive vice president for Thermo Manufacturing. "The old system at Mission San Jose High School was a built up roof (BUR), but we’re big on sustainable roofing. This project saved the school board money and was more environmentally friendly and economically feasible to the community."

The Project

With the help of Thermo Manufacturing rep Marshall Denton, consultant Chuck Schroder of Lance Roof Inspection Service, and contractor Feliciano Avila of Pioneer Roofing in San Francisco, Mission San Jose High School’s project was completed within a six-week period.

"We were hired to make improvements to schools in the district," Schroder says. "We laid out a plan to go forward with restoration work."

Prep work was performed before the actual installation, including power washing and cleaning the roof surface. "The emulsion was sprayed down and polyester reinforcement was set into the emulsion while it’s wet, and then broomed out," Schroder says. "Then it was top-coated with more emulsion (404 Styrene Butadiene Styrene) and surfaced with a white acrylic elastomeric coating (Super Prep)."

One of the key features of the top coating at Mission San Jose High School was that it was compliant with California’s Title 24 requirements. "As of October 2005, California rewrote the Title 24 portion dealing with energy management that requires certain roofs to have cool roofs put on them," Schroder says. "This project meets that standard."

Mission San Jose High was an aging school that was desperately in need of a reroof. "It was a nice package," Morelli says. "The goal was to use products that are environmentally friendly, cool - products that are good for the community, kids."

Schroder notes the Mission San Jose High School facility has 15 buildings on its campus. "The facility is split up with different roofs on different buildings," he says. "Some existing roofs were gravel, built-up roofs. We choose to tear off the gravel roofs and top-coat the smooth roofs," Schroder says. "The restoration is in keeping with a green approach. In some cases, those flat roofs would be torn off, but we choose to restore them. I think BUR, if they’re caught before they age or weather beyond a certain point, are restorable."

Morelli was pleased with the work performed by Schroder, whose consulting firm is headquartered in Atlanta but run out of Fremont. "Chuck’s a no-nonsense, no thrills guy - interested in the bottom line," Morelli states. "He knows what is best for the customer. I think Chuck likes our product and the systems for what we do."

The Manufacturer

Thermo Manufacturing is a privately held company that has been a proponent of cool roofing installations since 1948. "We’ve been putting cool roofs down before anyone knew what cool was," Morelli says. "You have a lot of people who are pro and con about cool roofing. Some are upset about Title 24. I’ve had customers for 40 years who have saved thousands of dollars in energy savings by installing cool roofing."

"Thermo has sustainable roofs over 40 years old that have never been torn off," Morelli continues. "I’m not saying our roof should be used on every building, but areas where our products should be used. It saves the owner a lot money."

Thermo Manufacturing has taken the lead in such roofing projects as the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio; Arizona State University; and the Ontario (Calif.) Convention Center. "We have a great track record: Cool roofs work," Morelli says. "Cool roofs may not be as effective here in Detroit as they are in Miami, but they do work."

"I like when the job is executed with a proper team: consultant, spec writer, contractor, manufacturer rep and owner working together," Morelli says. "We don’t like starting a job without a good specification consultant. We like to put all our heads together before we start. That was done here at Mission San Jose High School. They did a phenomenal job. The communication between our local rep (Denton), roofing contractor (Pioneer Roofing) and consultant (Schroder) was second to none. ABC Supply supplied materials on this project."

Morelli credits much of the success of the project to an exceptional relationship with Pioneer Roofing’s Feliciano Avila. "Feliciano is one of the owners,” Morelli says. “He was there eight hours a day on the job - performance was outstanding."

Thermo Manufacturing promotes cool roofing, notes Morelli. "Having environmentally friendly products, saving money and keeping our landfills down benefits owners, employees, taxpayers," he says. "God has blessed us with natural resources. Let’s make sure they’re handled with respect."

Cool Roof Benefits

To further its case for cool roofing products, Marshall Denton, the sales rep for Thermo Manufacturing, said the Mission San Jose High project used 8 gallons of modified emulsion and a 4 gallon-layer of polyester. It was topped with Super Prep, an acrylic coating. The prep work, meanwhile, entailed a T-60 water-based elastic used in conjunction with polyester. Denton says, "Some of the other benefits are you can go over an existing roof surface without disrupting the roof membrane. This way we eliminate a roof tear-off, which eliminates fees, eliminates noise and eliminates the distraction of a tear-off."

Denton says reflectivity is a key consideration. "The greater the reflectivity, the longer the roof will last," Denton says. "UV will destroy any roof. If you keep heat off of a roof, it will last longer. It will reflect rather than absorb the sun. It’s like a white car and black car. I’m asking for it if I have a black car. It will attract heat. It’s no different on the roof. Everyone can relate to that."

Denton says he kept in communication with the consultant and the contractor over the duration of the project. "I met with the school district and they were very happy," Denton says. "I monitored the application of the product, made sure we had a good qualified contractor, coordinated shipment of material, and made sure things went smoothly. I would go up on the roof and take digital photos, send them to corporate and make sure everyone was happy. It was a great job. We were fortunate to not only have a good product but a good consultant and a good contractor. The school district really benefited from a complete overall job."

Denton says liquid restoration can go over a multitude of existing roofing surfaces. "When you do a liquid, I compare it to a good paint job on a car," he says. "To preserve the paint job, you need a coat of wax. Wax will help the paint job last. But you’ve got to keep it waxed. With this project, by adding an additional waterproofing system on top of the existing roof, you preserve what’s underneath it."

Title 24 To Be Updated

The Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Nonresidential Buildings were established in 1978 in response to a legislative mandate to reduce California’s energy consumption. The standards are updated periodically to allow consideration and possible incorporation of new energy efficiency technologies and methods, and the latest changes were incorporated in October 2005.

To be considered a cool roof under the 2005 California Energy Code, a roof covering must achieve an initial emittance of 0.75 and an initial reflectance of 0.70 (or, if the initial emittance is less than 0.75, the roof must have an initial reflectance of at least 0.70 + [0.34 x (0.75 – initial emittance)].

The Energy Commission has begun development of the 2008 update to the Building Energy Efficiency Standards in three phases. The first phase of the development process will include a series of workshops to communicate to the public what changes the commission is considering and share the results of related research.

The second phase will present draft language for the 2008 Standards, and the third phase will be the formal rulemaking for which final proposed language for the 2008 Standards and related documents will be released for public comment for 45 days. This phase will also include Energy Commission adoption of the final standards that are scheduled to take effect in late 2009. The Commission expects this third phase in late 2007, with adoption in early 2008.