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Completed projects

Gallup study on worker satisfaction in the Roofing Industry (1997—$92,912): The Gallup study on worker satisfaction in the Roofing Industry was a seminal study documenting workers' motivation for entering, remaining in and leaving the industry. The publication Employee Satisfaction in the Roofing Industry: Quantitative Results was produced and is available through NRCA's bookstore.

Roof Application Training Programs (1997—$750,000): This series of training modules includes video, instructors guides, workbooks and learning guides. The series addresses low- and steep-slope roof systems, various system applications, and safety and equipment.

Media/image communications campaign (1998—$357,733): This campaign produced and placed individual radio and television ads; published a first-ever color career brochure; created a career hot line; produced a recruiting guide, Recruiting and Retaining Workers in the New Millennium, which is available through NRCA's bookstore; created the annual Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards program; and produced a pilot Job Corps program.

National Roofing Training Institute (1998—$118,000): The National Roofing Training Institute (a training facility for potential roofing workers) in the McAllen-Mission area of Texas was established. A 12-week program was offered to include a combination of vocational skills with roofing skills defined as pre-apprentice.

Specialty Construction Academic Consortium (1998—$20,000 for a three-year period): Funding enabled the Alliance to participate in an academic consortium designed to ensure that specialty construction is incorporated into the construction curricula offered by leading educational institutions.

Enter Here career video (2000—$51,091): This roofing industry career video was distributed to vocational, educational and governmental institutions. It depicted employees working at and talking about careers.

NRCA and Roofing Industry Educational Institute (RIEI) grants (2001—$50,000): $25,000 went to NRCA for educational survey work; $25,000 went to update RIEI course materials.

Best employment practices for the roofing industry study (2002—$30,568): This study documented effective and efficient methods for recruiting, training and retaining qualified workers. The publication Best Employment Practices for the Roofing Industry was produced and is available through NRCA's bookstore.

Roof longevity and replacement activity (2003—$75,000): This study was done to determine whether existing depreciation rules for nonresidential roofs were realistic and whether they created obstacles for the timely replacement of those roofs. The focus of the study was on the nonresidential building owner community. NRCA introduced legislation to reduce the depreciation period for roof systems on "nonresidential real property" from 39 years to 20 years.

Ergonomics study–industry benchmarks (2003—$60,000): This study was done to identify and document best practices to prevent repetitive-stress and strain injuries in the industry. The focus is on worker education, redesign of work, and improved design of tools and equipment. Identification and Management of Musculoskeletal Disorders in the Roofing Industry was published and is available through NRCA's bookstore.

SpecRight (2004—$110,000): The SpecRight program was an NRCA initiative launched in 2006. The SpecRight program provided information about conserving energy and protecting the environment through quality roof system design, installation, materials and maintenance. The program included NRCA's EnergyWise energy calculator software program, a Web-based application that allows roofing professionals to construct virtual roof assemblies to evaluate thermal efficiency and estimate energy costs via comparison of other roof assemblies (at ground level) absent other building envelope components.

Future trends study (2005—$75,000): This study identified advances in information, materials and communication technology that will fundamentally change the roofing industry. The study results are recorded in the publication The Roofing Industry in 2025, which provides tools to use to think more strategically and proactively about the future. The publication is available through NRCA's bookstore.

Contractor liability insurance cost and coverage study (2005—$25,000): This study provides fact-based, actionable recommendations to overcome the excessive cost and poor availability of insurance for contracting firms and demonstrates the corresponding negative economic impact on the public.

Partnership in Get Rewarded for Education and Advancement Training (GREAT) Program (2006—$25,000). The GREAT program is a partnership of business, government and community organizations spearheaded by the Business Roundtable. The program goal was to train 20,000 new construction workers in the gulf area by 2009; to date that number stands at 21,000.

Rebuilding Together Kickoff program (2007—$10,000): For more than 10 years, NRCA has been a national sponsor of Rebuilding Together, an organization that rehabilitates single-family homes for the elderly and needy. Each year, Rebuilding Together hosts Kickoff to Rebuild, an event held the Friday before the Super Bowl in the Super Bowl host city. In 2007, the Super Bowl was held in Miami. NRCA member Advanced Roofing, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was the title sponsor for the event. The Alliance joined with NRCA; the Florida Roofing, Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors Association; and Bradco Supply Corp.

Penn State University (2007—$100,000): The Alliance has partnered with Penn State University for the purposes of conducting a series of projects that contribute to the advancement of the roofing industry in areas of high-performance roof systems and related work force development issues. There are three initial objectives: pursue the Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon competition as a vehicle to explore and promote the effects of building-integrated photovoltaic systems on the roofing industry and promote the role of the roofing industry in the deployment of solar energy systems in a manner that expands the visibility of the roofing industry among college graduates; contribute to the advancement of vegetative roof system research specifically in the area of energy performance through the sponsorship in state-of-the-art research and the development of educational materials that promote awareness of vegetative roof systems; and investigate the potential effects and respective market strategies for the roofing industry in response to the growing interest in building-integrated photovoltaic technologies.

The Field Performance of PV Roofs: A Critical Research Opportunity—Phase One (2009—$17,000): The research, which involved a comprehensive survey of the more than 6,000 rooftop solar installations that were subsidized by the state of Florida during the past several years, used the Florida solar database as the basis for a field performance study to monitor roof system performance during the next few years. The driving force behind the research was a white paper, Successful Rooftop Photovoltaic: How to Achieve a High-Quality, Well-Maintained, Compatible Rooftop PV System, which was released by the Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing and identifies the key challenges of integrating photovoltaic (PV) energy into roofing. Results of the initial study are available upon request.