Bringing the building envelope together

By Emma Peterson.

Tremco University is taking training beyond singular products to a comprehensive curriculum about the entire building envelope.  

In a new episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Tom Biller and Sarah Fay from Tremco stop by The Coffee Shops to talk to Karen Edwards about how they are creating comprehensive training solutions for both contractors and specifiers in the industry. Sarah, who is Tremco’s director of learning on the commercial sealants and waterproofing side, is leading the push for the wall construction curriculum in this program. Tom, who is Tremco’s roofing division training manager, is taking the lead on the roofing side of the program.  

The program that the duo is working on, Tremco University, is unique because it takes training beyond individual installation workshops. Sarah elaborated, “Beyond product or installation training, this program aims to teach the science and the techniques behind creating a seamless protective shell for a structure. So it's focused on those critical topics like energy efficiency, moisture control, structural integrity.”  

Creating a training program that gives professionals a higher-level perspective on the design and construction work they do every day is incredibly important. Tom explained why, sharing, “The building envelope is a system and all the components have to work together to provide an airtight barrier, to provide an energy-efficient building envelope and to provide a watertight building envelope.” The connections between all of these different building components are key to success, but too often there is a disconnect between the teams working on each area. Tom elaborated, “The contractor who's building the wall may be a very different contractor than who's working on the roof, and it can be a challenge to bring them together to make sure that indeed they're providing a fully integrated solution."

The solution to bringing them together? Tremco University, a comprehensive training solution focused on the building envelope as a whole, rather than its smaller parts. Sarah shared a bit about how this program works, saying, “Tremco University offers training in a variety of ways. One way is online, so we have on-demand virtual education that can happen through our system. We also have Tremco University On the Road, which is a demo truck that comes out to your location and will train you. We also have in-person trainings that just happen at our North American facilities in various places.” The throughline of all these trainings is Tremco’s dedication to teaching more than just installing a singular product, but how that product fits into the larger building envelope picture.

Read the transcript or Listen to the full episode for more about Tremco University and the importance of holistic building envelope training.