Elevating Standards With Building Envelop Training - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Tom Biller and Sarah Fay of Tremco. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

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Karen Edwards: Hello and welcome to another episode of Roofing Road Trips from RoofersCoffeeShop. My name's Karen Edwards.

In today's episode, we're going to be talking not just about training, but about the transformative power of building envelope training. In the roofing and construction industries, it's so important. And to talk about this topic, I'm welcoming Tom Biller and Sarah Fay from Tremco. Welcome.

Let's start with introductions, and we can maybe share with our listeners what your role is there at Tremco and what you do. So Sarah, why don't you kick us off?

Sarah Fay: Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you for having us. I'm Sarah Fay. I'm the director of learning at Tremco on the commercial sealants and waterproofing side, so the majority of my time is spent making sure that our customers are successful when using our products and systems. I'm really focused on helping to work with our subject matter experts to build curriculum and roll it out in a way that's meaningful for the industry.

Karen Edwards: Excellent. And Tom, what's your role there at Tremco?

Tom Biller: Good morning, Karen. My name's Tom Biller. I'm a training manager for the roofing division, our roofing and building maintenance division.

Karen Edwards: What does that mean?

Tom Biller: As training manager of the roofing division, I get to work with our contractors and the design community, as well as our internal employees to increase their knowledge of the different roofing, waterproofing and building maintenance solutions we can deliver to our customers.

Karen Edwards: Okay. Now, when we talk about training in the roofing industry, most people are thinking of it's an installation training, it's a product training, but we're talking building envelope training. Can you talk a little bit about how that's different?

Sarah Fay: It's really all about teaching the science and the techniques behind creating a seamless protective shell for a structure, if you will. So it's focused on those critical topics like energy efficiency, moisture control, structural integrity. And the training, I think, equips professionals to really design and construct buildings that are durable, that are sustainable and that perform at their best. Think of it as ensuring that every component, from the walls to the roof to the insulation to the vapor barrier, works together perfectly to protect the building and to protect the occupant.

Karen Edwards: So we hear that word system a lot, and Tom, maybe you can speak to a little bit about that, about how if one thing's not right, it can affect another's performance.

Tom Biller: Absolutely. Building envelope, it 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. And that is one of the places that our expertise lies in is in the connections between all of the different building components. Your wall has an air barrier, your roof has an air barrier. How do we tie those two together and how do we teach our contractors, maybe two separate contractors? The contractor who's building the wall or working on the wall may be a very different contractor than that's working on the roof, and how do we bring them together to make sure that indeed they're providing a fully integrated solution to that customer?

Karen Edwards: That's a good question that you just kind of said at the end. How do we bring them together? How do you?

Tom Biller: Well, that is the trick is to work with all of the contractors that touch the building envelope to make them aware of what the other applicators are doing, what their needs are and how they can work together. And again, I like to think that's one of the places where our expertise and our specialties lie in bringing these people together to make sure that, again, all the components work together to provide the best airtight, watertight and thermal efficiency possible.

Karen Edwards: Okay. So I'm curious how you are training the contractors. Are you traveling around the country? Are they coming to you? Are we using the web? What does that look like? Sarah, maybe you can start us off there.

Sarah Fay: Yeah, so we have Tremco University and 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 on a product or a system. We also have in-person trainings that just happen throughout North America in various places and for various products and systems.

We also will host at our training, our technical training institute, our Dallas training institute. We have a couple more locations that we'll be opening up we're excited about where we will invite contractors to come and visit us and to really get hands-on with the products and systems and get into the plants and see how things are made and manufactured.

So we like to think about it in a variety of different ways to really meet the contractor or the learner where they are with what they need.

Tom Biller: That's very well put, Sarah. It's truly an all-of-the-above approach. Tremco University online learning is part of it, but classroom, in-person classroom learning, especially with the design community, design professionals, here are the solutions, here's how you specify the solutions, here's how you can assure that they're being installed in a quality way, going out to the job site, working with the contractor on the job site, really, really important, as well as being present in their shops, doing trainings on a regular basis in their markets.

Karen Edwards: So my question now, is there training geared specifically for a specifier versus a contractor or is it one-size-fits-all?

Tom Biller: Within roofing, we'll customize the message based upon the audience. Certainly there is one unified message, but we often do find that specifiers more interested. And again, the specification angle, quality assurance, so reviewing the relevant ASTM standards for materials, whereas with the applicators, we'll work more on the quality installations, troubleshooting and again, just making sure that the installers are aware of the variety of solutions that they can offer their clients.

Karen Edwards: Curious as to, first of all, when did Tremco University officially start? Is this new? Have you guys been doing this for a while?

Tom Biller: Tremco University has been around for decades, but exactly what year it began, I might be hard-pressed to actually say, but Tremco University has been a teaching tool for us for several decades now and we continue to expand what we can do with it and the individuals and the groups that we are bringing through the online learning.

Sarah Fay: I think too, the idea around building envelope training as a whole for the last, what, three years probably? I mean-

Tom Biller: Probably about three to five years, yep.

Sarah Fay: Yeah, on envelope training as a whole versus one product at a time as we have in the past. So we're really trying to make it more comprehensive, so people will find it more useful in the field.

Tom Biller: Yeah, it's a more unified message, yes.

Karen Edwards: What's the feedback been? I'm thinking first from a contractor's perspective, if I'm a roofing contractor and are you finding that there is interest in, "Okay, I should care about the walls because oh, that makes sense"? Do you see those light bulbs going off during these trainings?

Tom Biller: Absolutely.

Sarah Fay: Yes.

Tom Biller: Not just for what we're showing them, how to use the products in the systems properly, but light bulbs going off on other ways they can help their customers and other ways they can help their client. I feel that's one of the biggest things we can do for them is expand their knowledge of solutions they can deliver to their customers around the building envelope, not just a roofing contractor, but what are all the other things you can do to expand your business and help your clients?

Karen Edwards: Yeah, I do see more contractors wanting to bring that additional value to the building owners.

Tom Biller: Absolutely.

Sarah Fay: Yeah. The feedback we've had is really overwhelmingly positive. I think we build the curriculum in a way that's most relevant, so it's really focused on real-world skills, real-world challenges, not just the more theoretical side of it. I think that the contractors really appreciate that and the fact that we're really building these trainings with their success in mind.

Karen Edwards: So is there a curriculum? You take one, Class 1, 2, 3 and 4 and then you get a certificate. What does that structure look like?

Sarah Fay: So we have some qualified applicator programs. I mean, the short answer is it can vary depending on the product or the system, right?

Tom Biller: Yes.

Sarah Fay: We have some qualified applicator programs that are just that, right? We want to pull someone in and really train them soup to nuts on how to install, choose the right materials in a way that's most effective for them from a business standpoint, as well as from a building sustainability standpoint. And at the end of those, yes, you come out with a certificate that says, "Look, I've been trained in this," and it's something that you can show your commitment as a contractor out in the field to your clients and your customers.

Karen Edwards: Okay. And from a specifier's perspective, are they earning CEUs, continuing education credits and is that process automated? Do you manage that for them?

Sarah Fay: Yes. It depends on the accrediting body, if you will or the licensing body. So sometimes we handle it for them. Sometimes it's simply we make sure that they have their certificate that they can turn in. So it just depends on what the licensing body is, how we handle it from a process standpoint. But yes, we know that's a big benefit, especially to our designing community, having an ability to obtain continuing education credits. So we have built that into the programs to make sure that they're getting a little benefit from it as well.

Karen Edwards: Excellent. Now, I know Tremco has really been focused on being a comprehensive solution provider from the foundation to the roof. And how does the training and education programs, how do... I mean, it's kind of obvious. It supports that mission because you're providing that much-needed information and helping people do more.

Are you seeing more of those contractors that just want to be that one call and, "Yeah, I can help you with your walls," and, "Yeah, I can help you with this"?

Tom Biller: Absolutely. Our contractors are always looking for ways to differentiate themselves, to do more for their customers, to solidify their position with their customers. And the more we can offer them, the more solutions we can offer them and the more we can train them on how to deliver those solutions properly. Expanding their capability, it's a very important aspect to that.

Karen Edwards: Excellent. So I'm just curious what you see the future might hold for learning opportunities and Tremco University. You guys have been committed for a long time to providing that knowledge and information, not only just on products, but I think on the science of buildings and how things work together. What's to come?

Sarah Fay: I see the opportunities as endless. I mean, I think future training programs for the building envelope specialists are going to continue to evolve in exciting ways. We have technologies like virtual reality, augmented reality, that can create these more immersive environments for hands-on practice, while also simulating real-world challenges without the risks of the real-world challenges. Artificial intelligence can really make sure that we're delivering personalized learning to people. We can tailor resources, we can tailor guidance based on the unique individual's need.

And so I think that we'll see more accessible, more on-demand trainings because we know that it's a lot to get off of a job site and contractors need to be able to learn at their own pace on their own device, if you will, in their own location. So really making sure that it's accessible, I think, is a key point as well. And just making it fun, right? I mean, contractors are out in the field. They don't want to sit there and stare at a computer screen for an hour. So how do we make the learning engaging through interactive challenges, through rewards to make sure that we are developing these innovative, efficient and really impactful programs for what they [inaudible 00:13:48]?

Karen Edwards: I love the fact that you mentioned augmented reality because you may have a designer, a specifier that's new to the industry and learning and they could have an opportunity to be up on a building on a roof, right?

Sarah Fay: Yeah.

Tom Biller: Absolutely. And that's very important. We're offering unique solutions to the industry, unique solutions to the market. So augmented reality is going to be an important part of that, helping them understand in that deeper way what we are talking to them about, how it's used in that rooftop or in the building envelope application, unique solutions. Many of the solutions offered by the construction product group are not me-too solutions. Unique solutions that create and drive the market. Augmented reality and more in-depth training, it's going to be a definite key to the adoption of these solutions and very important to the specifier.

Karen Edwards: And I know that solutions and products are getting smarter, right? And I believe Tremco has some features of I don't know if it's embedded technology in a membrane that can provide information about who installed it, what it is, when it was installed. Are you seeing more interest in the role that technology can play in a better performing building?

Sarah Fay: Yes, absolutely. I would say I think that this industry is just changing very rapidly and will continue to change very rapidly from installation techniques to the new technologies to the... And I think that this training, the training that we're providing as an industry is really helping people stay on top of that, stay updated, even changes in building codes that are changing all the time. It's a way to make sure that you are staying up to date with all of the important and relevant pieces to build off of what Tom said earlier that will make you, make your business more successful.

Karen Edwards: Right?

Tom Biller: Yeah.

Karen Edwards: Right, yeah, yeah. Because it's important to understand it and to get it right in the first time because nobody wants a callback, right?

Sarah Fay: Yes. We're trying to prevent the callback and the costly delays and all of that. And to do that, you have to look at the system.

Karen Edwards: Yeah, yeah. Okay. So how does someone get information on the trainings and when they're happening or how to access them?

Sarah Fay: So on our website, we have our Tremco University link that will showcase for people when and where the trainings are happening. We always also encourage people to get in touch with their local reps because a lot of times, the local reps will help facilitate those in-the-field truck and trailer Tremco On the Road training.

Karen Edwards: And the next question is, is there a cost?

Sarah Fay: Sometimes. So sometimes there is a cost associated with it, and sometimes there is not a cost associated with it. It depends on the program and the intricacy of the program and so forth and so on, but that's all listed on the website for people to find.

Karen Edwards: Excellent. And the website is...

Sarah Fay: Tremcocpg.com.

Karen Edwards: Tremcocpg.com, and you can also visit Tremco's full directory on rooferscoffeeshop.com, if you can't remember. And there are links to their website, which you guys recently did a website refresh and it's beautiful and everything's easy to find, so you should have success navigating that.

So we're excited to share this information with everyone because I think oftentimes, this information, you offer it, but we need to get the word out that it's there and it's available and people don't always know that. So it's good stuff you're doing there. I'm excited to hopefully send more people your way after they listen to this podcast about the type of learning opportunities that you have.
Sarah, Tom, thank you so much for being here and talking about this important subject.

Sarah Fay: Thank you, Karen.

Tom Biller: You're very welcome, Karen. Thank you for the opportunity.

Karen Edwards: Yeah, and thank you, everybody out there, for listening. Be sure to subscribe because we don't want you to miss a future episode, and we hope to see you next time. Bye-bye.

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