Winter 2019 News

Sprayworks Equipment Group has developed a robotic coating applicator. The wheeled machine, an improvement over the existing “Spraybot,” is set to launch in February of 2019. The machine is designed to consistently apply coatings with an even and accurate pass each time. Called the Coaterbot, it promises to increase the amount of product that can be applied with a two-man working crew. 

“This spray robot will be the only precision coatings applicator in the industry,” claims Jennifer Hristovski, marketing director at Sprayworks. She notes the machine has the ability to apply both spray foam and coatings, all while increasing yield and saving manpower, and is ideal for roofing, highways, bridges, parking decks, and more.

A sneak peak of the robot in action is available online, through this magazine’s website.

The Roofing Alliance, part of the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), will be hosting a competition for college students in February. Construction management students from four universities will  compete in February at the 2019 International Roofing Expo (IRE) in Nashville, Tennessee. Each school has assembled a team of four students who will be tested on their roofing knowledge, project management capabilities and presentation skills. 

The competition began earlier this winter when a total of 12 universities were tasked with submitting a qualified bid package for installing a new roof system for the Hilton Franklin Cool Springs Hotel in Franklin, Tennessee. 

Judges reviewed the written proposals, submitted in mid-December, and selected the four teams as finalists for the competition. The Roofing Alliance will announce the finalists in January 2019, with oral presentations submitted at the IRE show. 

Kyle Thomas, co-chair of the Alliance Construction Management Schools Initiative Committee, sees this event as an opportunity to introduce roofing to a new generation. “We’ve known for years that the students graduating out of these construction management programs often have very limited exposure and education related to roofing,” he explained. “We certainly hope that some of the students become interested enough to pursue a career in the roofing industry.”

The first- and second-place teams will be awarded $5,000 and $2,500 in scholarship funds for their schools, respectively. 

To learn more about the Construction Management Student Competition and how to attend, visit www.roofingindustryalliance.net.

Recently, a 21,711-sq.-ft. green roof was installed in Brooklyn, New York.

Tony and Gina Argento, owners of Broadway Stages where the greenroof is located, donating the roof space and matching funds to make the space a reality. 

Officially named the “Kingsland Wildflowers Green Roof & Community Space,” it’s located in a highly industrial area in north Brooklyn, and was partially financed by the Greenpoint Community Environmental Fund, a non-profit committed to expanding natural habitat and green corridors for bird and wildlife populations.

Completed in August of 2017, the green roof oasis acts as a natural habitat for local birds. It’s also a focal point for the neighborhood, with lectures, native plant walk tours, bird surveys, wine and beer tastings, and an outdoor classroom for local schools and the general public.

Additional photos are available through the online version of this story.

The Air Barrier Association of America (ABAA) has announced that it will hold its annual conference March 26-27, 2019 in Norfolk Virginia. For additional information, visit the conference website at www.abaaconference.com.

Emecole Metro, the Illinois-based concrete repair and waterproofing product company, is now fully up and running in a brand-new building. The new headquarters is just a few blocks from its former location, but this new property gives the company room to grow, a dedicated training room for contractor education, and larger research and development facilities. 

Additionally, Emecole Metro now has a larger warehouse space that will allow them to hold additional stock, which translates to faster service when customers are in a pinch. With Emecole Metro being centrally located, product can be delivered to most customers anywhere in the U.S within two business days.

Tsurumi Pump has a new warehouse in Woburn, Massachusetts, 15 miles outside of Boston. The new facility is due to increased customer demand in the region, as flooding in the northeastern U.S. has worsened over the last decade, with Boston in particular experiencing historic floods this year. 

Glenn Wieczorek, managing director of Tsurumi, said the new warehouse in Woburn will aid in future remediation efforts. 

“Tsurumi’s new warehouse represents so much more than company expansion or customer demand,” he explained. “Customers in all industries will certainly benefit from the new warehouse, but now, when flooding occurs in the northeastern U.S., we’ll be able to respond to it faster than ever before.”

Tsurumi also maintains six other warehouses across the U.S., including its corporate headquarters in Glendale Heights, Illinois, and its western U.S. branch in West Jordan, Utah.

Firestone Building Products has renamed the former Gaco Western plant in Waukesha, Wisconsin. Firestone acquired Gaco in 2017 and added their silicone and acrylic liquid coatings to their other lines of waterpoofing products.

“The Gaco facility has been a part of the Waukesha community for more than 30 years, and we want to thank the more than 100 team members for their hard work and commitment to making this facility one of the best manufacturing facilities in the area,” said Taylor Cole, president of Firestone Building Products.

The Gaco facility has more than 144,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing and warehouse space, producing silicone roofing systems, waterproofing and spray foam insulation. It produced more than 42 million pounds of product in the past year. The facility also boasts a robust research and development group.