WASHINGTON — The winners of the 2015 Quality Asphalt Roofing Case Study (QARC) Awards have been announced, and it’s no beauty contest. Although the winning projects all feature aesthetic and innovative design, none were chosen for their looks alone. The top three winners this year — a high school, a luxury condominium complex and an upscale home — were chosen because of the vital way asphalt roofing was used to solve a key issue and protect valuable assets.

The Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association (ARMA) honored D&D Roofing with the Gold Award for the new roofing system installed at the Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver. The school selected a redundant BUR system to protect the school’s staff, students and equipment from a variety of different weather conditions, including heavy snow storms, hail, high winds and the blazing sun.

The Silver Award was given to IronClad Exteriors Inc. for its work on The Grand Lodge at Deer Valley in Park City, Utah. This luxury condominium complex located at a ski resort required a new asphalt roof that would prevent heat from escaping through the attic and causing ice damming when snow melts and refreezes at the eaves.

Tom Goldston Roofing received the Bronze Award for the Rosenthal Residence in Glennbrook, Nev. This beautiful home in South Lake Tahoe required fire-resistant asphalt shingles because it’s situated in a heavily wooded area. The homeowners also wanted the shingles to resemble the look of the original wood shake roof.

Asphalt roofing played a key role in each of these projects, providing the perfect aesthetic look while using multiple durable layers to protect the buildings.

“These winning projects illustrate that when a building requires protection and reliability, asphalt roofing can also provide a solution that incorporates beautiful design,” said Reed Hitchcock, executive vice president of ARMA. “Whether through protection from the elements, reliable insulation or fire resistance, asphalt roofing solved a problem for each building while meeting the aesthetic requirements of the job.”  

The annual QARC awards program honors North America’s best architects, contractors and specifiers who use asphaltic roofing materials on low- and steep-slope building projects. The program honors the residential and commercial roofing projects that demonstrate the beauty, affordability and reliability of asphalt roofing. The 2015 recipients are:

Gold

Project: Thomas Jefferson High School

Location: Denver

Company: D&D Roofing of Commerce City, Colo.

Description: The BUR system consisted of a Johns Manville GLASPLY^® Premier Type VI base sheet and Perlite Cover Board, two layers of ENRGY 3^® insulation and four plies of GLASPLY Premier Type VI felt. The school district relied on multiple redundant layers to protect the school from Colorado weather.

Silver

Project: The Grand Lodge at Deer Valley

Location: Park City, Utah

Company: IronClad Exteriors Inc. of Park City, Utah

Description: To reduce heat loss through the attic and prevent dangerous icicles from forming, this project incorporated a CertainTeed FlintBoard^™ ISO NB Composite Polyisocyanurate/OSB Roof Insulation. Next, a fascia board was installed, followed by a WinterGuard^® HT advanced waterproofing underlayment and DiamondDeck^® High Performance Synthetic Underlayment. The final and visible layer consisted of the Presidential Shake^™ shingle product.

Bronze

Project: Rosenthal Residence

Location, South Lake Tahoe, Nev.

Company: Tom Goldston Roofing of Gardnerville, Nev.

Description: The asphalt shingle used on this home was chosen because it resembled the look of the original wood shake shingles while being fire resistant and giving the homeowners peace of mind. The contractor chose PABCO Paramount Advantage Oakwood Signature Cut asphalt shingles for this project. The system also included a Carlisle 300 ice and water barrier and a FelTex synthetic underlayment.

Honorable Mentions

Mandarin Road

Townsend Roofing and Construction Services Inc.

Jacksonville, Fla.

Living Spaces Home Makeover

RJK Construction

Willoughby, OHhio

Western Builders Office Building

Tecta America CS LLC

Amarillo, Texas

Schmidt Brewery

Berwald Roofing Company Inc.

St. Paul, Minn.

The 2015 QARC judges represented experts from the trade media, the roofing industry and building and construction. For the low-slope commercial systems, judging focused on the project’s reliability, performance and affordability while also considering overall aesthetics. The steep-slope projects were evaluated based on how asphalt shingles solved the homeowner’s problem and provided the look they desired through different asphalt shingle colors, textures and the overall curb appeal.

One of the judges stated of the gold winner, “It's not always easy to make a low-slope roof system look nice, but this one blends beautifully with the aesthetics of the building and the surroundings. Plus, the entry includes lot of information about why a durable roof was important to the school, which, I think, underscores the reliability of asphalt.”

Another judge said that the silver winner incorporated a “beautiful use of dimensional shingles” as well as a “terrific explanation of the job and why asphalt is the best choice.”

The top three winners will receive a check from ARMA in the amounts of $2,000, $1,000 and $500, and will have their roofing projects featured on the ARMA website.

ARMA is now accepting submissions for the 2016 QARC awards campaign.

For more information, visit www.asphaltroofing.org.