LIVE From IIBEC 2025 with USG! - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Frank Avalo of USG. You can read the interview below or watch the recording.

Heidi Ellsworth: Hello and welcome back to IBE C 2025. My name is Heidi Ellsworth and we are on Live on the Coffee Shop Soundstage sponsored by IB Roof Systems. And I tell you what, it just keeps getting better. We keep bringing so many experts we're hearing about what's going on in the show. I'm so happy to have Frank here from USG. Welcome to the Sound Stage. Well, 

Frank Avalo: Thank you very much for the invitation to be here. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I know, 

Frank Avalo: Uh, just really quick for the folks that don't know me, my name's Frank Avalo with USG Secure Rock Roofing. Uh, I'm the specifications manager for the roofing team based outta Chicago. Uh, help a lot of the consultants and engineers and architects in regards to taking a look at, uh, low slope commercial roof systems and trying to make them better in the world. 

Heidi Ellsworth: I love it. So important. So important. And we met last year. You were just reminding me. We did, we did At the bar. That happens. Yes, we 

Frank Avalo: Did. 

Heidi Ellsworth: That happens. I know. 

Frank Avalo: But your husband was there. 

Heidi Ellsworth: He was there. Not this year. Tim didn't get to come this year. Um, but, you know, I just love this show. I think it's so important. Can you kind of share, I mean, being in charge of specifications, you are working with consultants and architects in the design community every day. Yep. How important is it for the roofing industry to really, um, embrace the IBC and everything that they're doing? 

Frank Avalo: Yeah, that's a great question. So for us, this has been, we're, we're celebrating our 20th anniversary this year with the Secure Rock, uh, uh, brand. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. 

Frank Avalo: And all those 20 years we've been here. Ah, so that's pretty much a testament to how important the IEC community is to our growth and obviously getting the message and spreading the word in regards to roof boards and cover boards being utilized in low slope roofing applications. So yeah, absolutely. Ibec is RCI. Yeah. 

Heidi Ellsworth: It's an 

Frank Avalo: Important equation to our success. 

Heidi Ellsworth: So, so, so what are you showing in your booth, um, that the consultants are what's new in your booth, but overall, what are you talking to the consultants about? 

Frank Avalo: Sure. So, uh, for those, uh, consultants are not well versed in regards to Secure Rock. We go through the traditional portfolio that we have. We met, we are manufacturers of gypsum and cement roof board products. Um, the most expec, the most extensive, um, roof board line by any manufacturer at this show. So high performance boards. Uh, but what we're really showcasing for this year is our weather defense roof board product. It love, it is a new product line for us. Uh, actually it's the answer to FM VSH Ah, 

Heidi Ellsworth: So 

Frank Avalo: Very severe hail. It's, uh, a little bit up and, you know, overdue on our part, but more importantly, we, it's something that is overdue for us to launch. So more importantly, this is just, uh, right 

Heidi Ellsworth: There and it's so important to the industry and everything that's going on with severe hail and all the severe weather that's going on. Yeah. You're 

Frank Avalo: Bringing up a good point in regards to very severe hail. Yes. I mean, it's great to obviously talk about FM and meeting FM VSH, but just in general now we're looking at tornado and wind speeds and all that. That's, that's new and that's pretty much new stuff that's developing into the design for, for consultants and designers and architects 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. 

Frank Avalo: That they now have to factor in. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Right. 

Frank Avalo: In the past they really didn't factor that in. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. 

Frank Avalo: So now they are, it's and it can increase the wind loads that and the pressure loads that are required in the designs. And so because of that, potentially a roof board can come into play. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. What are you seeing specification wise of, um, your cover boards and how, I mean, it seems to me that the consultants are very, very, um, supportive. 

Frank Avalo: Yeah. So you're bringing up another, uh, great question. So from the design community with the consultants that are here, typically we see about 60, 70% of the, uh, I bet community, they tend to specify a roof board and 

Heidi Ellsworth: That's great. 

Frank Avalo: So that's a, a high percentage, but still in the end of the day, only somewhere around 20 to 30% of roof boards actually get installed. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. Uh, 

Frank Avalo: So there are some, I mean, you can get a, you can get a warranty on a roof system without a cover board, but just adding that cover board aids adds an additional durability to the roof system, protects your insulation, uh, increases your wind uplift. So there are a lot of merits to provide that roof board gets utilized up there. And, uh, but primarily this community is the one that really is more accepting of roof boards 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. 

Frank Avalo: And therefore specifies it more often. 

Heidi Ellsworth: One of the things I love too, that has really come to the forefront in the last couple years is just the fact that when you're using cover boards, you're really creating a roof that's ready for anything. And there is so much is going up on roofs, whether that's solar panels, telecommunications, all of the equipment that's going up there. And cover board really does provide that, um, durability for the roof. 

Frank Avalo: Yes. Yes. And so a growing, uh, market for us is the, the green roof segment. So we've seen that sort of go through a couple different iterations or waves where green roots were the, the flavor of the, of the month, uh, being installed throughout the whole United States. It kind of weaned down a little bit. Yep. It seems to be picking back up again. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yes. 

Frank Avalo: And, uh, because of that, where you need additional support and protection of the membrane as well as the insulation, you start seeing that hardboard or a cover board being installed. And that's also a, a court kind of like a mandate for obtaining the, the longer term warranties that a system manufacturer's requiring. So we're all, at the end of the day, we're still tied to working with the system manufacturers Yeah. And their 

Heidi Ellsworth: Warranty programs. Yeah. But it seems to me that really, and this has been the theme of our conversations today, is contractors, roofing contractors, working with consultants, working with manufacturers to really provide the best roofing systems for the building owners is really when everybody wins. And cover board is a big part of that equation. 

Frank Avalo: Yes. Uh, and it's, I think you'll still see, hey, continuing to grow as a category. Uh, obviously we talked about tornadoes being included more into design, uh, hail being included more into design, just the unpredictability of weather, you know, every year it's not getting any easier. 

Heidi Ellsworth: No, it is not. 

Frank Avalo: So that roof is not, it needs to last a longer time. 

Heidi Ellsworth: So Yeah. It really does. So, one last question. What are the consultants saying about your new product? 

Frank Avalo: It's a little hard to say. It's still a little early in the show. 

Heidi Ellsworth: Yeah. 

Frank Avalo: But I think so far the traction has been very good. Uh, I've already been informed by a few that, hey, as soon as soon as more of those fm uh, roof nav assemblies start to pop up and materialize in the search, please let us know so that that way we can start incorporating specifying your board more often. So 
 

Heidi Ellsworth: I love it. I love it. Well, thank you so much. Great information. Oh, 

Frank Avalo: Thank you very much for the time here. 

Heidi Ellsworth: So, great. And you can find all this information on the USG directory, on Roofers Coffee Shop. Check out all of their newest products and everything that they're doing around cover boards and severe weather. Um, it's, it's just how it is and it's so important. So thank you again. Yep. Thank, thank you. Stay tuned. We've got a lot more.