Commercial and Industrial Roofing Services
systems: thermoplastic single-ply roofing.
Overview
Thermoplastic Single-Ply Roofing has been growing rapidly in popularity over the past several years as the United States edges toward becoming a “greener” country. Thermoplastics can take the form of either “PVC” or “TPO”, and are known as Cool (White) Roofs due to their unique energy efficient design. Also, being a true "single-ply" system, these roofing systems can cost substaintially less than any type of conventional built-up system.
TPO and PVC are "Cool Roofs"
To understand the concept of a cool roof, there are two factors that need to be explained; reflectivity and emissivity. Reflectivity describes the amount of solar energy that is reflected back by the roofing membrane into the sky. A white membrane would reflect the most while a dark membrane would reflect much less. Emissivity is basically a measure of how well the membrane can repel heat. For example, a white surface will repel the most heat while a black surface will absorb the most.
The higher the emissivity and the higher the reflectivity of the membrane, the more energy efficient the design. Thermoplastic roofs have the highest reflectivity and emissivity values, explaining why they have increased in market share so substantially in recent years and are becoming great alternatives for Chicago buildings.
System Types / Design
While there are two forms of thermoplastic single-ply roofing systems, the specification design will only take one of two forms; mechanically attached or fully adhered. The only difference between the two is the fashion in which the membrane is attached to the underlying components. In a mechanically attached system, the membrane is fastened at 12" O.C. in the leading edge of the sheet with the overlap of the next sheet covering the fasteners. In a fully adhered system, the membrane is laid in a bed of special adhesive and the fasteners in the leading edge of the sheet are unneccasary. To the eye, the only noteable difference bewtween the two will be that the fully adhered system will have fewer "wrinkles" and a more "tight" look.
All of the seams are performed using hot-air welds. A welding "robot" is used in the field of the roof while handheld hot-air welders are used for flashings and detail work.
A thermoplastic single-ply system from Roofing Solutions can carry a guarantee for up to 20 years and provide an alternative to building owners looking to put a high-quality roof on the building and save thousands in the process.
Additional Resources
TPO Roofing - Single Ply Roof Systems -An introduction to TPO roofing. Johns Manville Website.
JM 60-mil TPO Product Data Sheet - Johns Manville Website.
The JM TPO Advantage - Highlights the strentghs of using Johns Manville Thermoplastic Systems.