Student Project Prompts Eco-Friendly Roof Restoration at Upper Arlington Elementary School

4/12/2017

BEACHWOOD, Ohio (April 12, 2017) – Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance announced today that it will clean and restore the 3,500-square-foot roof of Windermere Elementary, a school within the Upper Arlington (UA) school district serving approximately 420 students. The restoration initiative is a result of the UA Senior Capstone Project by Emma Reed, a senior at UA High School.

The elementary school will be restoring its original black roof to a more environmentally-friendly reflective roof.  A reflective roof can help reduce local air temperatures, lower energy use in buildings and reduce the strain on HVAC equipment.

“I have always cared about the environment and look up to those people taking on projects that can really make a difference,” said Reed. “During my junior year, I had learned about ‘green roofs.’ I thought implementing this as part of my Senior Capstone Project could be my way to increase environmental awareness within my own community.”

The Senior Capstone Project is designed to be the culmination of the student's experience at UA High School. It is an opportunity for students to explore their various interests, passions, and curiosities, while showcasing academic skills and community engagement.

Windermere school principal, Julie Nolan and UA Chief Operating Officer, Chris Potts, reached out to Tremco Roofing to help turn the restoration project into reality.

“As soon as we heard about the project and saw Emma’s passion for the environment we knew we had to help,” said Scott Bertke, Tremco Roofing Senior Field Representative. “We inspected the facility and determined that restoring the original roof as a reflective one would significantly impact the school’s energy footprint. Also, by restoring the roof instead of replacing it, we keep tons of roofing material from being shipped to landfills, which aligns with the overall philosophy of Emma’s project.”

Tremco Roofing is donating its Geogard roof restoration system and innovative roof cleaning system, RoofTec. Phinney Industrial Roofing, Columbus-based roofing contractor, is donating safety equipment and labor.

“The first step in the restoration process is to thoroughly clean the Windermere Elementary roof,” said Bertke. “The RoofTec system’s extremely powerful, non-abrasive, rotating water jets remove dirt, mold and mildew from the roof surface without the negative effects of power washing; this helps prepare the roof for coating.”

RoofTec uses less than half the water of competitive systems and almost instantly captures any waste water, keeping it from running into storm drains and retention ponds. After cleaning, the Geogard system will be applied.

Geogard protects the roofing assembly from exposure to fire, and is reflective to help reduce energy use and the Urban Heat island effect; this is when an urban area or metropolitan area is significantly warmer than its surrounding rural areas due to human activities and, often, an abundance of black roofs. With the Geogard application, surfaces can achieve up to 85 percent reflectivity and may be 60 percent cooler than black surfaces, creating a potential reduction in energy use. The system also provides outstanding resistance against contaminants, extending roof life expectancy and bringing overall costs down.

The roof restoration process is scheduled to start at Windermere Elementary on Friday, April 14, 2017, and should be complete no later than May 6, weather permitting.

Reed graduates from high school this year and plans to major in landscape architecture in college. “In the future, I want to design parks that people will want to come and visit. Hopefully this will help them fall in love with the environment like I did,” she said.

 

About Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance

Headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio, Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance helps manage building life cycles for customers in education, healthcare, government, manufacturing and many other industries. Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance is a division of Tremco Incorporated, which has been in business since 1928. Tremco Roofing works closely with Tremco Incorporated subsidiary WTI, which provides general contracting and roofing services, and Canam Building Envelope Specialists, which provides air barrier analysis and solutions. To learn more, visit www.tremcoroofing.com or call toll-free at 800-562-2728 in the United States or 800-668-9879 in Canada.