Roofing, just like technology, is following Moore’s Law which addresses the ever-increasing speed of change and advancement. We are seeing a rapid succession of product developments, and the inclusion of technology in such roofing areas as measuring, marketing, estimating, visualizing, and sales. These are exciting times.
The Hall of Fame hockey player Wayne Gretzky often said, “To be successful, you have to play where the puck is going – not where it’s currently located.”
Okay…we know he wasn’t talking about roofing, but it does apply. As a leader in residential roofing for northern Wisconsin and the UP, we must ask ourselves: what are the next big things in roofing that will impact homeowners? How do we avoid skating to where the puck is, and instead skate to where the puck is going?
What comes after Green?
For many years, the big word in roofing and perhaps all of construction was “green.” We were all striving to use products more environmentally friendly. For us, this meant installing products that are made from recycled content, energy-efficient, long-lasting, and fully recyclable in a way that is sustainable.
However, today, green is a given in building materials. If you’re not green, you’re the outlier. This is the reality of industry-leading asphalt shingles – an environmentally-unfriendly product that is rapidly losing market share. And it’s why, over the past 20 years, we have seen metal roofing installation grow rapidly.
While we fully expect metal roofing to continue to grow in use and popularity, and we also expect more and more technology to be utilized by roofing products manufacturers, and in our own processes and practices.
What big things in roofing will impact homeowners?
We think it comes down to a full package of benefits. Consider the following:
- Growing percentages of recycled content
- Greater energy efficiency
- Prolific inclusion of solar and using roofs to harness energy
- Roofs that address our climate in northern Wisconsin and Michigan’s UP such as rain, wind, hail, snow, ice, and increasingly intense storms
- Product warranties that offer greater value to homeowners
- Ability to install roofs over old roofs, reducing landfill disposal
- Faster installing roofs to address the shortage of skilled labor
- Continuous installer training and certification
- Specialization in our roofing systems, at every level of service to homeowners
- Custom roof colors and designs to allow homeowner specification
- Better ability to see what particular products will look like on a home
- Thinking of roofs as a meaningful home component, not a “necessity”
- Great consideration of building science including ventilation, insulation, moisture control, and reflectivity
- Even longer life products and greater sustainability
Determined to Bring Greater Value to Homeowners
Here at American Metal Roofs of Wisconsin, we’ve been a leader in bringing many of these benefits to local homeowners. Yet we find these expected advancements to be very exciting.
We are eagerly working toward developments in these and other areas, determined to bring even greater value to homeowners in the coming year.
Please contact us anytime that we can be of help to you in identifying your present or future roofing needs. We’re ready for what comes next. And we’re ready to skate to where the puck is going!