Environmental responsibility is your responsibility as a business owner

By Dani Sheehan. 

Hear from industry experts as they discuss EPA roofing regulations and why you should understand how roofing practices impact the environment. 

The roofing industry is uniquely positioned in affecting positive change in sustainability and other practices that impact the environment. In the latest Coffee Conversations episode, sponsored by IB Roof Systems, industry experts sit down to discuss important roofing regulations to help your business stay compliant in its environmental responsibility. Jason Stanley, CEO of IB Roof Systems, joins Tammy Hall, Trent Cotney and Deb Mazol for an important and engaging discussion of the latest EPA regulations relevant to the roofing industry. 

There’s been a big push to move toward sustainable solutions within roofing, and overall, this is a good thing. However, RCS Influencer and Partner of Adams and Reese LLP, Trent Cotney, says that some of these regulations can impact business, and it’s paramount that you stay in touch with the updates to ensure your company can accommodate any necessary changes. We need to be aware of the conversation happening around sustainability so that we can work together to fit into our business needs. If we don’t, we won’t be able to find a good balance or have a voice in the changes. 

One such example of working with the EPA and some of these regulations is the discussion around PVC. As Jason explains, products can receive an EPD from the EPA, which is an environmental product declaration. It looks at the entire life journey of your product from raw materials to transportation to manufacturing to job site, all the way to the end of its life. He continues, “PVC has a glowing score when it comes to their EPD. And then we did some work to demonstrate with a third-party company that you can validate that PVC becomes carbon-neutral all on its own after being installed.”  

Seemingly out of nowhere, about a year ago they were under scrutiny with the EPA wanting to deem PVC a hazardous product. Deb, working on the D.C. team for the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), says the industry quickly got together to investigate the issue and were able to find the root cause of the accusation. The final ruling will come in April 2024, but Deb says, “I looked up the EPA’s comments and they were very strong against any determination that PVC would be considered a hazardous waste. I feel good about that. We came together quickly within the industry to provide comments to the EPA, particularly on how this would affect our business. PVC is not just in roofing, but it’s in toys, electronics, medical device packaging, even straws.” 

The EPA has a rulemaking process that allows you to provide comments. Deb says, “They want to hear from us to make sure they don’t make a decision that ends up running counter to their initial goals.” As Tammy of CFS Roofing and chair of NRCA’s government affairs mentions, we are very fortunate in the industry to have a large government affairs committee within the NRCA. She emphasizes the role of contractors: “That’s how contractors need to network, because we all have to be participants. We all have to have our voice heard. We all have to engage. We start at the top and then we trickle down with the spiderweb to keep that initiative [moving forward].” 

Read the transcript, Listen to the podcast episode or Watch the webinar to dive into other sustainability issues in the roofing industry and how you can join the conversation!