Live From IRE With the Ladies of Certainteed!

Lauren White joins the ladies from CertainTeed at their IRE 2023 booth to discuss what the rest of the year has in store for their company!

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Carmen Bodden, Barb McDonough and Phoebe Kwan from CertainTeed at IRE 2023. You can read the interview below or watch the YouTube video. 

Lauren White: Hi, I'm Lauren White with Roofer's Coffee Shop, and we are here at IRE 2023 in Dallas, Texas. And we are in one of the CertainTeed booths. They have two. And who am I with? Let's introduce ourselves.

Carmen Bodden: All right, well, I'm going to start with introducing my lady leaders here ...

Lauren White: All right.

Carmen Bodden: ... In the CertainTeed.

Lauren White: Love it.

Barb McDonough: Thank you. I'm Barb McDonough, I'm the general manager of the newly formed Waterproofing Group.

Phoebe Kwan: I'm Phoebe Kwan. I am the general manager for Solar Solutions.

Carmen Bodden: And I'm Carmen Bodden and I lead the Residential Roofing team. And we are so excited for you to stop by today because we are the only roofing manufacturer that has three female leaders. And I don't know if you attended National Women in Roofing ...

Lauren White: I did.

Carmen Bodden: ... But it was invigorating to see all ... Over 500 females there.

Lauren White: Seriously.

Carmen Bodden: Barb had a chance to go.

Barb McDonough: A great day. Absolutely.

Carmen Bodden: Very inspiring. So nice to start out the IRE with that much empowerment and engagement.

Lauren White: Definitely, yeah. And how's the show been for you all so far?

Barb McDonough: Busy.

Lauren White: Yeah.

Barb McDonough: It's been busy. You see the line out front.

Lauren White: Seriously.

Barb McDonough: I can't believe people are waiting hours to get in.

Lauren White: I know. That's wild. Yeah. So what are you hoping to get out of the show this year? What's the goal?

Carmen Bodden: Well, we have a couple new products that we are introducing and one of them, and I think this is sort of the highlight of the show. We have so many visitors. Our solar product, our solstice shingle. And so Phoebe, you want to talk a little bit about the solar?

Phoebe Kwan: Yeah, sure. So this is my first IRE.

Lauren White: Oh, good.

Phoebe Kwan: And so far the excitement, the energy's been amazing, so I'm really glad I get to be here. And more importantly, we're here to launch our new solstice line, which is really a very exciting moment for CertainTeed because we think about the future of homes and roofing. More and more people are now really asking for solar on the roof and for us, for CertainTeed, what we really think about is we don't really see solar as just a standalone component, but we see how ... We want to look at solar as part of the whole, part of the roof. And so it's really with that spirit and with that thinking, that's how we develop our solstice shingles and product line. We really designed for the roofers so that they can even essentially put solar on either both new and existing roofing systems.

Lauren White: Okay.

Carmen Bodden: So the key on this is it's a system approach, right?

Phoebe Kwan: Yeah.

Carmen Bodden: So we have our underlayment. Our GCP acquisition was that we got the ice and water shield. They are lucky because they created the standard for underlayment, which we all call ice and water, but it's actually their brand. And then we use our synthetic underlayment in our shingles and then the solstice shingle on top of that. So it looks really great. It's over there at the other booth. We are in the education booth right now. But we are very excited about it. We got a lot of traffic.

Phoebe Kwan: We do. Yeah, we we do. And then ultimately we think about home and roof. People think about ... You want a roof to protect your home. And now not only does this roof protect the home, it powers the home as well. So it's really an evolution of what a roof should be and that's what really excited about.

Lauren White: Yeah, that's huge. Very very.

Carmen Bodden: And then we have, actually right behind us, it's a new color. It's our Solaris solar reflective cool roof. So you could do a combination between the cool roof and this is a new color called graphite. And we have another color, darker colors. Homeowners like the darker colors.

Lauren White: Yeah.

Carmen Bodden: And so that's a nice combination where you can have the regular asphalt shingle that's solar reflective panels plus the solstice shingle on top of that. So I'm very excited about the new color introduction.

Lauren White: Yeah. Definitely. Very cool.

Barb McDonough: And I would just say, I mean it's something very near and dear to my heart is we're celebrating 20 years of Flintlastic SA self-adhere roof systems. I actually started out in research and development and was during the whole development process of when we introduced and created the self-adhere offering back 20 years ago. So it's kind of my baby ...

Lauren White: Yeah.

Barb McDonough: ... That I've kind of seen raise up and pretty soon be able to get a drink at the bar.

Lauren White: That's amazing.

Barb McDonough: But it's been very exciting. So we're running a really nice promotion this year to spread the word that these systems are true and tried and true commercial roofing systems that work. And so running contests for all of our contractors to submit their self-adhere roof systems that have been around for decades and we're offering up some cash prizes. So really excited to ...

Lauren White: Very exciting.

Barb McDonough: ... To share that at the show this week.

Carmen Bodden: And then in terms of our Climateflex product, it's an all weather impact-resistant shingle that you could apply in cold weather applications. We are expanding the service area, so by the end of the year we are going to have it available all over the United States. And it gives the homeowner peace of mind in particular when they're in hail-prone areas and for the contractor, they can install it all year long. So that's something else we're doing. And then the big splash at IBS ...

Lauren White: Yeah.

Carmen Bodden: Where is it? Our new ...

Phoebe Kwan: We all have it.

Barb McDonough: The brand.

Lauren White: Oh, all right.

Carmen Bodden: Yes, yes. So it's kind of a paradigm shift for CertainTeed. Our purpose is making the world better home and it really fits well in this because we are going to ... We're looking at something we call future built. So we're trying to design our products and system to make sure they last. It's about performance and durability.

So that is something that is a shift because we were in CertainTeed, in the past, more about products. Now we're about system and solutions and the solar roofing system is about that. From an underlayment perspective, we can actually have waterproofing for the whole house now from the basement to the weather bearer to the flashing to the underlayment, and then we put our shingles on our siding.

Lauren White: Yeah. Wow.

Carmen Bodden: So we can cover the whole house. So it's kind of exciting about the brand and it really solidifies that we're one CertainTeed.

Lauren White: Yeah.

Carmen Bodden: And ready to make sure we make the world a better home via our systems and design.

Lauren White: Definitely. That's great.

Carmen Bodden: Yeah.

Lauren White: Very cool. You're not busy at all.

Carmen Bodden: No! No, we're not busy at all. And then I think the other thing we are doing is on our luxury products, we're doing a little contest right now where the contractor can submit the picture and they can win prizes. And each quarter we are going to have for different Grand Manor and then I think Belmont and different from the luxury line contest around that.

Lauren White: Very cool.

Carmen Bodden: So that's also very exciting. And then we have an education booth right here behind us. That's why we have one booth over here and that is all the products. And here we are doing the education. And an espresso. Oh, and I forgot about this! Our new color!

Phoebe Kwan: Oh, yeah. Do we have a picture of the espresso?

Carmen Bodden: Yes. This is our new color, espresso. So you see it here?

Lauren White: Oh, I get it now. Okay.

Carmen Bodden: Yes.

Barb McDonough: The espresso bar to launch the espresso color.

Carmen Bodden: And some espresso beans.

Lauren White: Yeah, look at that.

Carmen Bodden: So that's a new color. So that was the kind of the play.

Lauren White: Okay, very fun.

Carmen Bodden: Yes, yes.

Lauren White: Very cool. And besides having so many amazing women in leadership, what else sets CertainTeed apart in the industry? What do you think?

Carmen Bodden: I think what sets us apart, we have been around since 1904 for 100 ... Over

Barb McDonough: A long time.

Carmen Bodden: ... 100 years, a long time. And originally the brand started out as a CertainTeed, quality made certain satisfaction guarantee. We really stand behind our product. We are the trusted brand. That's the way I see it. And the loyalty we have from our contractors and our warranties around our system to make sure we protect the homeowner and stand behind our contractors on the commercial side. We pick up the labor workmanship in commercial roofing. I think that's something we hear it. And overall during COVID, our service was something that we heard ... Our customer service got really high accolades from our customers.

Phoebe Kwan: And that actually translate to solar as well. So you look at the solar industry historically, it's always very volatile. A lot of companies, they're in business one day and the next day they're gone. So when we talk with contractors and really understand what matters to them, having that CertainTeed brand, having that history and the legacy, it means a lot. It's not just having the best product, which we have really good products, but how are we helping our contractors get into solar? Are we providing the resources, the digital tools, the training? And then on top of that, we talked about the warranty for commercial. And we also have a very strong warranty for solar as well. So not only do we cover the product, but if you're part of the credential contractor program, we also cover the labor for the whole system. And again, that's something that's definitely not common for the rest of solar industry.

Barb McDonough: We've been in solar for over a decade now, right?

Phoebe Kwan: We have been. Yeah. So it's kind of the worst kept secret if you look at it. But look, the industry has changed a lot. Look at the industry 10 years ago and where we are today.

Lauren White: Yes.

Phoebe Kwan: There's a lot more awareness in the public. Policies are much more favorable. Technology has gone up a lot, leaps and bounds. Economics changing. So it's a really good time for contractors now to go into solar. And that's what we're here to help them.

Carmen Bodden: And I think our consumers, they want to reduce their carbon footprint. So by utilizing a system approach with ... You have energy savings and really thinking a little bit more about sustainability. And that's another thing we're doing on asphalt recycling and shingle recycling. It's very important. We just announced the partnership with Asphaltica, who's helping us with our coded waste recycling and they developed the technology around that you can ... You send your coded waste in paving. Yeah.

Lauren White: Very cool.

Carmen Bodden: So it's very, very exciting. And we just started that and we want to expand that. And really it goes back to making the world a better home and what we care about, our purpose. And tagging onto the history of CertainTeed's and where we are going to go with the new brand. We have all that history. And then thinking about future builds, which is not a real tagline, whatever you want to call it, but we really believe in that; that we have to make a difference. And the way we're designing our products. And we need to look at materials as resources, not just waste. So having a circular system is really, really key. And that's what we're trying to do with the recycling efforts and we're looking at a lot of different things. And the industry is. Arma put out a statement around this to reduce our landfill waste from shingles overall from the whole industry. And I think as an industry we got to make a difference.

Lauren White: Yeah. For sure. More and more homeowners are wanting that.

Carmen Bodden: Yeah.

Lauren White: It needs to happen, but people want it to happen, too, and they're paying attention to those things and who's doing it. Right? It's not just about you, yourself finding it, but what companies are doing it and spreading that message and really adhering.

Carmen Bodden: And we put our money ... We kind of walk the talk. So we have 28 products that are Green Circle certified.

Lauren White: Okay.

Carmen Bodden: And so it's a third-party verification that looks at our recycled content and says, "Yes, what they're saying, they walking the talk." So that's something else we are doing because you can say a lot, but you're going to have to show it because of transparency documentation to your customers. So, they can actually do the research and see it. And we have it on the commercial side, too.

Barb McDonough: We have a few products Green Circle certified as well on the commercial side.

Lauren White: That's great.

Barb McDonough: Yes.

Lauren White: That's huge.

Carmen Bodden: It's all about, as I said, making the world about all.

Lauren White: Yeah, definitely. Anything else that you want to share with IRE or the Roofer's Coffee Shop, fan club back home?

Carmen Bodden: Well, I'm going to go back to the National Women in Roofing.

Lauren White: Yes.

Carmen Bodden: This year we had 500 attendees. Next year we got to go for 700.

Lauren White: There you go. I love it. Yes.

Carmen Bodden: So we got to recruit more women into roofing. That would be kind of my thing. I'm on a panel on Thursday with Michelle Boykin and then Curtis and her boss and Christine Markenhow, and it's going to be ... Art Eisner is our moderator from Roofing contractor.

Lauren White: Okay.

Carmen Bodden: So we're just trying to be out there and explaining to people, you got to bring more women into roofing. And it's not just about women, it's about diversity of thought.

Lauren White: Definitely.

Carmen Bodden: But it's something that I'm very passionate about and CertainTeed is. So next year we'll have more.

Lauren White: Yes, let's do it.

Carmen Bodden: Yes.

Lauren White: All right. Anything else?

Phoebe Kwan: Yeah, I mean, reflecting on what Carmen said as well, Yeah. Look at us. We have three women leaders here.

Lauren White: Yeah.

Phoebe Kwan: But it's more than that. Think about our purpose. We are here to make the world a better home. I mean, it's really easy to be excited and really proud of what we do. And that's what gets me excited every day, coming to work and being here and just talking to people. So it's been a really good experience and it's a lot of fun.

Lauren White: Yeah.

Barb McDonough: Absolutely. This is a great industry. I mean, come on. Who doesn't want to be in this industry?