Metal Roofing Madness - Only Winners In This Bracket
By Shawn Zuver, editorial/content director
As I’m writing this, my 2011 college basketball tournament bracket is officially broken. I picked only two winners from the round of 16 games and was locked out after that, with no potential for additional points heading into the final weekend. It was undoubtedly one of my worst showings in memory, and left me grasping for a way to redeem myself...here’s what I came up with.
Welcome to my first-ever Most Important Benefits Of Metal Roofing Challenge. I haven’t bothered to trademark that extremely-forgettable name, so feel free to use it when you set up your own office pools. Please excuse me for referring to all of this as Metal Roofing Madness. I think we'll all agree that there are only winners in this bracket.
As I often point out, there are seemingly endless benefits to selecting metal roofing for virtually any type of building – whether the structure is residential, commercial, industrial, agricultural, institutional or whatever other category you’d like to name. With a nod to brevity, I’ve selected just 8 of those benefits and placed them in a single-elimination tournament grid.
Electric Eight...
There was no selection committee or seeding, just a random draw in a purely unscientific manner – pretty much the same method I used when deciding which of these benefits would be advancing in each round. Due to my carefree method of coming up with the initial pairings, some interesting matchups occur in the opening round. Let’s take a look at which benefits will be moving on.
Formidable Four...
While the advantage of low life-cycle cost has been a perennial favorite among those of us who are close to the industry, the flexibility of metal roofing for reroof/retrofit applications seems to be more important to building owners and home owners – in part because reroofing with metal usually allows operations inside their building/home to continue without interruption during the renovation process.
The other three matchups in this round saw green/sustainability benefits being bested by more traditional advantages. In each of those cases – cool colors that reflect heat away from the building, rainwater collection/solar power generating potential, and recyclability of metal scrap – I think it’s still a little early in their careers. Green awareness is certainly gaining momentum, but I don’t feel it’s a primary purchasing criteria for most people...yet. In a way, I’d liken these benefits to a team of all freshmen who have a tremendous amount of talent, but whose time to shine is maybe a year or two away.
Top Two...
A pair of great matchups in this round saw reroof capabilities coming out on top of appearance, while weatherability bested metal roofing’s advantage of offering products in price ranges that can meet nearly every budget. It’s difficult to argue against appearance, especially when it comes to a steep-sloped roof like is commonly seen on a home or retail project; however, the focus on reroofing has increased dramatically in the past couple years as many building and home owners seek ways to improve their existing structures without building new ones. It was also a very close contest in the other pairing, but ultimately weatherability came out on top.
And My Winner Is...
Paying tribute to Abraham Maslow’s legendary Hierarchy Of Needs, I’m placing weatherability as the winner in my bracket. As the 20th Century psychologist pointed out, shelter is one of those basic life needs that makes each person feel secure - and I agree. I contend that the most important requirement of any metal roof – or any building material for that matter – should be that it can stand up to the weather and provide protection for the building’s occupants. At least that’s my thinking this time around.
Of course, you’re welcome to disagree with my picks. And a year from now, if I were to look at these same matchups I might likely arrive at different results. While many advantages of metal roofing will remain constant, though improving, markets will ultimately dictate the most important benefits. For example: cool roofing is being written into a growing number of specifications; solar collecting metal roofs are gaining interest every day; and rainwater collection on metal roofs is already an essential way of life in some regions of the world.
There’s also the possibility that a less-heralded benefit – one that didn’t even make it onto my grid this time – will move to the forefront. Everyone likes an underdog, even when brackets are broken.
Shawn Zuver is editorial/content director for DesignandBuildwithMetal.com. He has been covering the metal construction industry, including residential and non-residential construction, since 1985. To contact Shawn, call (419) 581-2051 or email shawnz@designandbuildwithmetal.com.
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