Roofing resiliency: Designing roofs to last

By Dani Sheehan. 

From innovative materials to sustainable practices, the roofing industry continues to advance. Hear from an industry expert on the state of roofing today. 

This year has started bustling with positive energy and momentum. In another exciting episode of Roofing Road Trips®, Heidi J. Ellsworth catches up with Greg Hudson from Georgia-Pacific Building Products in person at the National Roofing Contractor’s Association (NRCA) fall meetings. He takes us through a virtual road trip of trends in the industry and what is defining roofing in 2024.  

After starting 2023 still recovering from the pandemic and supply chain shortages, Greg feels like the end of 2023 was really defined by too much rather than too little. He explains, “It really feels like we're coming out of the overstocked position and you're seeing projects get back to actively bidding projects, actively working projects in the natural, we call them daily shipments, are really starting to get back to those norms. So, we're excited about that. We're excited about getting out and competing again.” 

As roofers, we are constantly talking about the weather, but it has also given us a lot to talk about. What Greg says used to be referred to as 100-year storms are not happening more frequently and having a greater impact on the built environment. He finds a positive spin on these extreme weather events, saying, “I do think that's a tailwind for this industry, not only from a manufacturer's opportunity to innovate and build more robust systems, but for contractors to install these more robust systems and be able to hand a roof over to a billing owner that your confident is going to withstand some of these volatile storms that are out there.” 

More severe weather also calls for greater resiliency, which Greg and Heidi agree is directly connected to sustainability in this industry. Of the materials at Georgia-Pacific, Greg says, “We want the membrane to last the lifecycle like it is expected to, but we want to protect that insulation as well. It has a very long lifecycle. So, if we protect that, then it'll keep it out of the landfill as well.” 

While the industry currently lacks a common definition for resiliency, Heidi and Greg believe resiliency is building a strong enough roof to hold what people consider a return on investment. Separate from sustainability, Greg continues, “We need to get a common nomenclature, and that's something we're working on in the Roofing Alliance, is working with Clemson [University] to really identify how we describe the two and the connectivity between the two. Well, the first part of sustainability, if you think about it, comes from resiliency. And let's ensure the roof lasts as long as it was intended or designed to last, and that keeps those materials out of the landfill.” 

Read the transcript or Listen to the podcast episode to learn more about the state of roofing today.