As you plan for the future life of your commercial building roof, it’s important to understand industry trends so you can factor those into your plans for the next decade. While many roofing solutions remain tried-and-true after dozens of decades of use, emerging technologies and materials can mean cheaper, better, or faster solutions to protecting and repairing your commercial building’s roof. Let’s dig into the 10-year outlook so you can prepare to do what’s best for your roof.
Technology and Roofing
Advances in technology continue to deliver improvements to the roofing industry.
- Drones can be used in evaluating and diagnosing issues and potential problem areas, though they still aren’t a match for experienced, human inspectors.
- Project management software and applications are streamlining the way work is budgeted, staffed, and conducted for more accurate pricing and timelines.
- AI (artificial intelligence) can be used to analyze the progress of jobs and give updated, increasingly accurate completion timelines based on real-time data. It can also enhance the ability to detect certain kinds of damage, supplementing the expertise of the roofing professional.
Green Building and Remodeling
Environmentally friendly roofing materials and practices will continue to grow.
- Solar panels: Expect to see more companies investing in solar panels, which can look cool and help drive energy savings and ROI. Solar panel technology is evolving quickly, with advanced battery capability and greater cost reduction in energy spend.
- Living roof: The ultimate in environmentally friendly, a living roof is the greening of your roof to make it partially or completely covered with vegetation. These systems include irrigation systems and waterproofed protection for the roof underneath and can be an innovative way to grow plants or produce while protecting the roof.
New Roofing Materials and Coatings
Some trends we see emerging are with new or improved roofing system materials that offer improvements over existing solutions:
- Synthetic: Synthetic roofs aren’t new but emerging technology includes lighter-weight material that delivers better weather and impact resistance. Some of these materials are also now recyclable.
- Metal: While metal roofing has existed for ages, new metal commercial roofing systems will be designed to be highly resistant to corrosion, with improved energy efficiency and heat retention. New metal systems are more aesthetically pleasing and can look similar to shingles or tile.
- Silicone: The main advantage of a silicone roof is it can be placed on top of an existing roof to take care of any gaps, cracks, holes, or other areas of weakness. Modern silicone roofing systems are lighter colored to cut down on heat absorption.
Trending Solutions, Old-School Work Ethic
Roberts Roofing brings more than 40 years of experience to every Northeast Ohio roofing job. We pride ourselves on long-time customers and work with you to install, repair, manage, and care for your roof today and for years to come. Contact Roberts Roofing online or call us at 440-946-2233 to learn more about which trends can improve your commercial building roof.