Greening the Single-ply Roof

By Cass Jacoby, RCS Reporter. 

Protect more than just the roof with Duro-Last®; protect the Earth as well. 

Duro-Last, Inc. is committed to sustainable practices and materials in single-ply manufacturing. For more than 20 years, Duro-Last has focused on sustainability as a guiding tenant of their roofing solutions. Read on to learn about how Duro-Last offers custom-fabricated single-ply roofing that is as sustainable as it is durable. 

Certified sustainable 

Duro-Last is proud to be the first manufacturer to publish a product-specific PVC environmental product declaration (EPD) for single-ply membranes, reporting the lifecycle environmental impact of each of their membrane products. 

Duro-Last has also worked hard to obtain third-party certifications to verify the sustainability of their products, including NSF/ANSI 347. With a focus on product design, product manufacturing, membrane durability, corporate governance, and innovation, this standard represents Duro-Last’s commitment to manufacturing sustainable products through sustainable practices. Duro-Last has achieved NSF/ANSI 347 certifications on the following membranes: 

• Duro-Last® Membrane – NSF/ANSI 347 Gold 

• Duro-Tuff® Membrane - NSF/ANSI 347 Silver 

• Duro-Fleece® Membrane - NSF/ANSI 347 Silver 

• Duro-Last EV Membrane - NSF/ANSI 347 Conformant 

• Duro-Last X™ Membrane - NSF/ANSI 347 Conformant 

Additionally, Duro-Last was recognized with the 2017 Excellence in Recycling Award by the Michigan Recycling Coalition for their commitment to recycling and sustainable materials management. The award is given every year to one Michigan organization that shows leadership and excellence in recycling and waste diversion. 

Solar ready 

With the long-term watertight integrity of Duro-Last Roofing Systems, prefabricated accessories and pre-made rack flashings, they offer solutions for any rack-mounted commercial rooftop solar application. Check out this video to see how Duro-Last was used for a variety of solar applications throughout the northeast.  

Further, the use of PVC for the membrane adds to the sustainability of the roof by providing a long-lived material that will not only last up to 20 years or longer, but can be recycled at the end of that use. 

Conserve energy 

Across the world, extreme weather and prolonged heat waves are breaking records. The urban heat island (UHI) effect has made cities hotter, driving the demands for cooling technology. The building envelope plays a key role in how much energy is required to heat and cool the building. Fortunately, there are ways to successfully mitigate escalating rooftop heat, directly reducing UHI levels. By selecting Duro-Last light color membranes in place of dark roofing, you can significantly decrease the building UHI impact and increase the reflectivity of sunlight, reducing heat in the building while cutting down on energy demand. 

Today’s cool roofing systems are a significant platform for urban building sustainability. White Duro-Last Roofing Systems work to greatly reduce energy consumption and electricity bills by meeting or exceeding industry standards for reflectivity and thermal emissivity. With a total solar emittance of up to 87%, the Duro-Last membrane also releases energy and heat efficiently. 

Further, Duro-Last membranes can be installed over a variety of substrates, transforming non-reflective roofs into energy, saving reflective roofs with no disruption to the operations below. 

Reduce, reuse, recycle 

From their manufacturing process, all the way through Duro-Last’s Recycle Your Roof program, Duro-Last prioritizes recycling at every step of the product life-cycle. Duro-Last is committed to reducing its carbon footprint and recycle virtually all of its manufacturing waste. The company has a manufacturing process that allows excess material to be recycled back into production. They also use a closed loop water cycle during their manufacturing process, reducing wasteful water discharging. 

Duro-Last's custom-fabricated roof systems allow roofing contractors to reduce scrap on the job site so that less waste ends up in a landfill. Further, Duro-Last offers a take back program that allows mechanically-attached PVC roofs, at the end of their useful life, to be returned to their facility where they are recycled. 

Since 100% of mechanically attached PVC roofing material can often be recycled, Duro-Last can transform it into new products such as Roof-Trak® walkway pads, ProFlex® concrete expansion joints, and Protect-All® flooring. These roofs are reprocessed into other products, giving them new life and significantly reducing environmental impact. In fact, to date, Duro-Last has recycled more than 80 million pounds of PVC material. 

Learn more about Duro-Last in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit www.duro-last.com.