Roof Contractor and Design: Solar Roofing

Roof Contractor and Design: Solar Roofing

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Alcoa (NYSE:AA) announced today the start-up of a 588,000 Watt, roof-mounted photovoltaic solar power system at its Alcoa Building and Construction Systems' Kawneer manufacturing facility in Visalia, California. The project serves to demonstrate the environmental and financial merits of harnessing energy from the sun to generate electricity on an industrial scale.

Alcoa partnered on the project with DEERS, a global solar power project developer and owner of the DEERS Solution, the patent pending solar roof top attachment system, and Constellation Energy Projects & Services (CEPS), which constructed and will own and operate the solar system. Alcoa agreed to host the new solar power system and purchase the electricity generated.

"This solar power project increases California's supply of clean and reliable renewable energy," said David Schlendorf, president, Alcoa Building and Construction Systems. "Alcoa is committed to implementing sustainable energy solutions and is dedicated to pursuing alternative energy supply options that benefit our key stakeholders - including our employees, communities, customers and suppliers."

Asia's Roof Gardens Key To Cooler Cities?

Koi carp, goldfish, and a collection of giant tropical ferns: The only thing missing from this model modern Asian garden is... the garden.

Complete with white reflexology pebbles underfoot, the breezy oasis is situated high on the twelfth floor balcony of one of Singapore's ubiquitous government-built high-rises.

Having an apartment garden relieves the "monotony" of living in concrete, said creator Furn Li.

"We needed something natural, like plants and fish, to add some life. It's a far-fetched idea for us to own a landed property, but, anyway, we have a nice garden here."

The rapid post-sixties rise of the urban tower block saw Asia's low-level landed properties demolished for mass housing projects; and made backyards the domain of the minority who can afford detached homes.

It also created a unique urban gardening culture which is starting to flower as new voices popularize the idea.

Setting himself the goal of "bring gardening to the masses" Singaporean Wilson Wong, 28, started the Green Culture website in September 2004.

With no gardening shows on television and plant nursery staff often puzzled about how to advise apartment gardeners, the forum has attracted hundreds of active high-rise gardeners, keen to swap ideas and plant cuttings.

"I thought I was the only one -- the only odd nut, the only crazy person interested in growing vegetables," said Wong, whose balcony-less flat houses 80 African violets, South American bromeliads and pitcher plants.

"Now people get to know each other. They exchange plants, they meet, they make nursery trips together. It makes gardening so much less painful."

The same desire to fill the void of local knowledge drove Hong Kong's Arthur Van Langenberg to write Urban Gardening, his response to the wealth of "glossy books dominated by sweeping lawns and massed tropical plantings."

Like others he started small -- growing vegetables in wooden packing crates on verandahs as a teenager.

Now the 66-year-old doctor, who never dreamed of owning a tree, has avocado, papaya and lemon trees in meter-deep troughs. Hundreds more plants grow in pots and in the lawn that he planted on his first floor apartment's bare concrete yard 15 minutes from Hong Kong island's CBD.

City To Replace Leaky Roof That Led To Toxic Black Mold

According to the Middletown Journal: (Carlisle, Ohio) The police station will get a new roof in hopes of stopping leaks that are believed to have caused black mold to grow in the Fairview Drive building.

City Council voted Tuesday to spend nearly $30,000 to finish renovations on the building that houses the police and services department.

Toxic black mold was found in the structure last December and city officials believe the leaky roof was the culprit.

It's expected to cost almost $20,000 to fix the roof, said Julie Duffy, finance director. The city already has spent about $8,000 to gut the inside of the police station.

City Manager Brad Townsend said they originally planned to put off replacing the roof, but more leaks were found in the service department so they decided to move ahead with a complete overhaul of the roof.

While renovations are under way, police officers are working out of the fire station and town hall. Townsend expects the remodeling to be done in April.

In other action, the council renewed an engineering contract with LJB Inc. after reviewing proposals from five other firms.

The city's five-year contract with the company expired Dec. 31. Under the new agreement, rates for engineering services will go up 15 percent.

Townsend said because LJB has not risen rates in five years the city was, "still getting a good value for the dollar."

Roof Contractor: San Diego Gets First "Green" Roof

San Diego Company Creates First Green Roof:

One San Diego company has come up with a unique experiment, creating the county's first green roof.

The plan takes a regular flat roof-top and turns it into a garden of sorts. The plants grow on top of multiple layers of lining, which serves to protect both them and the building below.

Jim Mumford was the man with the idea and says that "planting a roof" is all the rage in Europe.

Others point out that it's a great way to cut energy costs while helping the environment at the same time.

The roof costs approximately $30,000.

Oregon State Issues Warning About Mulch Made From Roofing Shingles

Oregon has issued a consumer alert to the public stressing that landscaping mulch made from asphalt roofing shingles may be toxic, and recommending how to dispose of the material.

The state Department of Environmental Quality began distributing the fact sheet after The Register-Guard last week published articles on the problems posed by asphalt mulch.

Since late 2000, manufacturing facilites in Springfield and Portland have made and sold the mulch from waste-petroleum-based shingles. Customers have included the state Department of Transporation in Portland and the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County.

In 2004, the DEQ determined that the mulch contains toxins such as arsenic and polyaromatic hydrocarbons in concentrations higher than those considered safe for soils at residential and commercial settings. The agency directed Darold Smith, owner of the Springfield manufacturing site, to stop selling the mulch to homeowners and nonindustrial firms.

Smith says that has in effect shut him down. He still has thousands of tons of the mulch at his 28th Street yard. He says he now gives it away. He disputes DEQ claims that the mulch can be harmful.

No one knows just how much of the material has been used, or where, said Bob Barrows, a DEQ analyst. The material was most likely used in Lane and Marion counties and the Portland metro area, he said.

The DEQ is distributing its consumer alert to the media and to a range of state and local agencies, he said.

In the alert, the DEQ says the mulch is not "immediately hazardous" to people.

"But people should avoid repeated exposure by getting it in their mouths or breathing the dust," the alert says.

The agency advises homeowners and commerical property owners to avoid using the mulch and to remove it if it is in an area with frequent human activity. The ground-up asphalt is pretty easy to identify, so property owners don't need to test it, the DEQ says.

People who remove the material should wear gloves, long-sleeved clothing, long pants and closed-toe-shoes, and moisten the material first to minimize dust, the agency says. They should put it in plastic bags and dispose of it with regular garbage that ends up at a landfill, the agency says. The agency advises against simply covering up the asphalt mulch with regular wood mulch.

Sarnafil Inc. Announces Name Change

Sarnafil Inc. has become "Sika Sarnafil."

Sanafil was purchased by Sika AG of Baar Switzerland in 2005.

"The new name is reflective of the business strategy for Sarnafil to take advantage of the resources that Sika brings to bear without changing the corporate culture and commitment to high quality products that you have come to expect from us," said Brian Whelan, president and CEO of Sika Sarnafil, Inc.

Sika is a globally integrated manufacturer active in sealing, bonding, damping and reinforcing in the construction, industry, and automotive markets. The company's product lines include high-grade concrete admixtures, specialty mortars, sealants and adhesives, structural strengthening systems, industrial flooring and roofing/waterproofing membranes. Sika has subsidiaries in 70 countries worldwide and 10,000 employees. Annual sales are approximately $2.5 billion.

Announcing Roof Contractor and Design

Roof Contractor and Design will provide useful information relating to the roofing and waterproofing of the "built environment."

Resources, information, articles, and links to other web resources will always be provided at no cost to the user. The goal of Roof Contractor and Design will be to provide a wide variety of information about a specific topic-range - without bias.

If you are an Architect, Engineer, Facility Manager, Property Manager or own facilities of your own - you will eventually have the need for the information available her at Roof Contractor and Design.

Topics covered will include:

• Metal Roofing
• Tile Roofing
• Shingle Roofing
• Roof Coatings
• Roof Design
• Roof Repair
• Basement Waterproofing
• Concrete Waterproofing
• Split-slab Waterproofing
• Deck Waterproofing
• Wall Coatings
• and much more