Top building products for September 2024

Given their durability and ease of use, metal roofs have been a common feature on rural houses for decades. Now they’re becoming an increasingly popular choice on urban dwellings as well. 

A dramatic interior green wall at Drexel University and a massive, 4.4-acre vegetated roof at the Kauffman Performing Arts Center in Kansas City are among the projects honored in the 2013 Green Roof and Wall Awards of Excellence. 

Aside from the roof membrane itself, the perimeter roof edge is the most critical component of the roofing system. As such, it warrants more scrutiny when designing a roof system.

When embarking upon a roofing renovation project, one of the first decisions for the Building Team is whether to tear off and replace the existing roof or to overlay the new roof right on top of the old one. Roofing experts offer guidance on making this assessment.

The United States Tennis Association has announced its plans for a sweeping transformation of the USTABillie Jean King National Tennis Center that will include the construction of two new stadiums, as well as a retractable roof over Arthur Ashe Stadium.  The transformation will be implemented in three phases to begin at the conclusion of the 2013 US Open, with the goal of overall completion by the 2018 US Open.

Some cities are deliberately discouraging construction of new parking spaces by allowing the construction of buildings with a lower ratio of parking spaces to dwellings (as low as 0.75 spaces per residence).

Firestone Building Products Company, LLC, the leading manufacturer of superior “Roots to Rooftops” products for commercial building performance solutions, today announced the release of its 2012 Sustainability Report. The report, the first for Firestone Building Products Company, covers the fiscal 2012 year and is available for download at firestonebpco.com.

When it comes to durability, a 50-year building design ideally should include 50-year coatings. Many building products consume substantial amounts of energy, water, and petrochemicals during manufacture, but they can make up for it in the operations phase. The same should be expected from architectural coatings.