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High oil prices that affect energy prices and cause material shortages certainly make the headlines. But it may surprise you to learn these same economic factors during the late s contributed to one of the largest class-action settlements in the history of the roofing industry. And roofing professionals still are affected by the consequences of that lawsuit.
Background
During the late '70s, near the end of the Iraq-Iran eight-year war, oil prices peaked. Consumers felt it at the pump where gasoline went from about 30 cents per gallon to a dollar or more. Building owners and managers became increasingly concerned with heating and cooling costs, and building officials started enforcing energy codes requiring higher R-values for roof system installations.
Until then, most buildings had minimum amounts of insulation, such as 1 1/2 inches (38.1 mm) of board insulation. By the s, contractors and manufacturers addressed the added concern of increasing R-value, which, in turn, increased roof system thickness. This complicated roof system designs, particularly with renovation projects. In addition, building officials began to enforce fire-resistance requirements over metal deck construction.
Manufacturers searched for products that offered the desired insulating capabilities and fire resistance to meet building codes yet kept thicknesses to a minimum to ease construction problems. As a result, polyurethane boards evolved into polyisocyanurate board, and phenolic foam roof insulation emerged. At the time, phenolic foam roof insulation offered a seemingly ideal solution with its high R-value per inch, cost-effectiveness per square versus polyisocyanurate and support from major manufacturers.
From phenolic foam insulation's launch during the early s by Koppers Co. (which eventually was taken over by Beazer East Inc.) to when it was discontinued, phenolic foam manufacturers estimate they sold at least 6,000 roof system installations that included phenolic foam roof insulation.
What was it?
Phenolic foam roof insulation consisted of a phenolic foam core bonded to nonasphaltic fiberglass and other facers. It was produced in board form in various sizes and thicknesses ranging from 1 inch to 3 3/5 inches (25.4 mm to 91.4 mm). It was sold under the Koppers/Beazer brands Koppers Exeltherm Xtra and Rx and Denver-based Johns Manville brands UltraGard Premier, Insul-Base Premier and Fesco-Foamboard. (The Beazer East manufacturing process and business were sold to Johns Manville in .)
Problems
The first inkling there might be a problem with phenolic foam roof insulation came during the late s and early s when roof systems that were less than 10 years old began to fail. The phenolic foam roof insulation turned out to have a critical flaw: When it was installed over a lightly primed, painted metal deck, any water in the roof system from above, moisture from operations or humidity within the building activated chemicals in the phenolic foam, which caused corrosion of the metal deck. At a minimum, the decay was severe surface rusting, and in other areas, it was so great the deck actually developed large holes.
By , the problems had become so extensive Johns Manville (the only manufacturer at the time) discontinued production. Eventually, Beazer East's product was found to cause severe corrosion to metal roof decks and other damage to roof systems. Beazer East initially began a voluntary program to identify buildings and compensate owners for repairing the damage to decks and roof structures caused by its insulation. As knowledge of the problem grew, a class-action lawsuit was filed in on behalf of building owners whose facilities contained phenolic foam roof insulation installed over metal decks and, in July , a settlement was reached between the class-action attorneys and Beazer East and Johns Manville.
In December , the U.S. District Court granted final approval to the Beazer East settlement and provided funding to remediate all steel roof decks. Members of the Beazer East settlement class included those who own or are responsible as a lessee for a roof with Beazer East phenolic foam roof insulation and a metal roof deck.
The settlement terms differed depending on whether the insulation had been manufactured under Koppers/Beazer East or Johns Manville. Key elements of the Beazer East settlement follow:
The Johns Manville settlement provided compensation at $100 per square for the total number of squares of metal roof deck for single-ply or asphalt shingle roof systems or $45 per square for BUR systems. (The Johns Manville settlement differed from the Beazer East settlement for a number of reasons, including overall age of the roof systems, corrective actions already taken and a change in the manufacturing process after Johns Manville took over production.)
The installations of phenolic foam roof insulation were concentrated in the upper Midwest, East Coast and Texas. Any geographic region that experienced extreme heat or cold was a perfect candidate for phenolic foam roof insulation as a solution to energy loss. Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota had hundreds of installations.
Several consulting firms were instrumental in helping contractors and manufacturers through the claims process. For example, George Butler Associates Inc., Kansas City, Mo., was retained by Beazer East to inspect thousands of facilities to determine the presence of phenolic foam roof insulation and roof deck conditions. And PhenCon, a claims administration consulting firm based in Woodstock, Ill., helps building owners secure remediation bids for their buildings and contractors with the paperwork necessary for the remediation projects.
Timing is everything
The class-action lawsuit provides a detailed timetable for getting work completed. Following an inspection that confirms the presence of phenolic foam roof insulation, a bid specification is prepared and bids solicited. After bids are submitted to the settlement office, the claims office has 45 days to extend an offer. The building owner then has 30 days to accept or appeal the offer. If the offer is accepted, the owner receives 50 percent of the prorated roof value up-front and has 60 days to commence work (but could get extensions because of weather or other extenuating circumstances). The remaining payment and reimbursement for the deck work is paid at project completion.
Why remediate?
Although many roof systems containing phenolic foam roof insulation may be in good shape, it is important owners repair and remediate decks as soon as possible for many reasons. A corroded deck presents a potentially serious financial liability for a building owner. Once a building is identified as part of the class-action lawsuit, it becomes an issue if the owner plans to sell the building. The owner also has potential safety issues if, for example, a heating, ventilating and air-conditioning technician or other employee happens to be on a weak part of the roof deck. The technician could fall through the roof, leaving the owner vulnerable to injury claims. Mechanical units have fallen through roofs into buildings.
Although building owners are getting some of the cost of their roof systems and most of the cost of decks replaced, they still likely will have an out-of-pocket amount and may be faced with replacing roofs and repairing decks many years before they planned or budgeted to do the work. They also are responsible for a portion of the legal fees.
A contractor's challenge
A roofing contractor's role is to explain the remediation process to his client. Roofing companies need to be adept at roof deck remediation in addition to their professional roofing expertise. Salespeople must educate customers about the process and let them know what to expect in the settlement process and during the work.
At a job site, the remediation process involves several steps. First, a roofing contractor must remove the existing roof system, including the insulation, down to the metal deck. He then must wire brush the entire deck surface, removing all debris and cleaning the deck.
After comparing the condition of the deck to the class-action deck remediation template issued by Beazer East, he determines whether to paint, overlay or replace the deck. (See photo above.) And finally, he installs a high-quality roof system as specified by the building owner.
Special considerations
Because of its various complicated steps and to fulfill the class-action requirements, a phenolic foam insulation remediation project is far more involved than a typical roofing project and requires specialized training and equipment not typically found on a roofing job site. Extensive training is required by all field personnel and should include communication with the building owner; roof system removal with extra precaution; safety training and precautions; extensive documentation with digital photos and forms; and deck painting, overlay or replacement techniques.
Safety is the first priority on a job because the potential for deck failure is a dangerously real possibility. Safety harnesses are required for all personnel on the job. The crews take particular caution in certain areas, such as around mechanical equipment, that are more likely to have had water intrusion.
Daily scheduling and determining crew size is difficult because they vary not only by the quantity of deck materials to be removed, replaced or overlaid but also by deck condition. Because the required deck painting needs to dry, there are necessary work gaps.
Extra precautions must be taken in painting operations. The paint used in remediation projects is a high-quality marine base, a waterproof paint that will land and stick on everything. A building occupant and surrounding building occupants will have to be informed, and vehicles will have to be moved. Additionally, everything needs to be done within a limited time frame because a roof is open and the customer's building and business is exposed to the elements.
Interior protection is a critical issue. Deck replacement and remediation can create a great deal of debris not only on the ground but potentially in a building, as well. A contractor must exercise extreme caution when working over areas without dropped ceilings and must schedule work around business production cycles of a customer.
Documentation requirements are unique to phenolic foam roof insulation projects because a majority of the deck work is paid for by the class action. Contractors are required to send detailed photos daily to the class counsel so their clients can be reimbursed for the deck remediation work. The claims office relies on professional contractors who can decipher, analyze and determine the extent of the remediation required that will fulfill the owners' needs and meet the standards of the class-action lawsuit.
With so many considerations involved, including not only completion of the work but the detailed documentation and filing that must occur to comply with the class-action stipulations, phenolic foam insulation deck remediation is a challenging proposition for experienced contractors.
Rex Greenwald is vice president of Central Roofing Co., Minneapolis, a member of Skokie-based Tecta America Corp.
Steps in a remediation project
Kingspan offers a brief history and practical guidance on insulation materials and the key points contractors must bear in mind.
Kingspan offers a brief history and practical guidance on insulation materials and the key points contractors must bear in mind.
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Over the past half century, there has been a fundamental shift in the way insulation is viewed within construction.
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Once a virtual afterthought, it is now a key concern for designers and contractors. This transformation means that specifiers and installers are now faced with a dizzying array of products. It is therefore important to understand how the performance of insulation is measured, and the benefits that innovative new materials can offer.
The most basic function of insulation is to resist heat transfer through conduction. The measure of how well insulation conducts heat is its thermal conductivity (also known as lambda value), which is recorded in units of watts over metres Kelvin (W/m·K). The lower the thermal conductivity of an insulation material, the better its thermal performance.
Over time, the materials used to insulate buildings have changed as manufacturers responded to demand for products with lower thermal conductivities, allowing the desired thermal performance for a building element (whether it be a roof, wall or floor) to be achieved with a slimmer build-up.
Cork and straw are amongst the oldest known insulation materials. There is clear architectural evidence of cork being used as roofing insulation material in 1st century Rome, while thatched roofs were common during the Middle Ages.
Spun from molten glass, stone or slag, mineral fibre was developed during the Victorian period. It was initially used for industrial applications but has been mass produced for a wider market since the s.
PUR and PIR were manufactured as building insulations in the decades following the Second World War. They offered noticeable enhanced levels of thermal performance relative to alternatives of the time. Use of these products increased significantly in response to the oil crises of the s.
Introduced in the s, phenolic insulation provides improved thermal performance when compared with PUR and PIR. Modern phenolic insulation has the lowest thermal conductivity of any commonly used insulation material.
VIPs have only recently been introduced as a building insulation material within the UK market. VIPs feature a microporous core which is evacuated, encased and sealed in a gas-tight envelope. This can allow a desired thermal performance to be met with the slimmest possible construction, making VIPs well suited for areas previously considered too hard to insulate due to a lack of depth.
While thermal conductivities provide a clear indication of the performance of an individual material, to see how it impacts an entire building element, a U-value must be calculated.
The first step is to measure the thickness of each component within a building element (in metre units) and divide this value by its thermal conductivity to produce an R-value (expressed as m2 K/W). This indicates the material&#;s ability to resist heat transfer at a certain thickness &#; higher R-values are better for insulation materials.
To calculate the U-value, the R-value of all the components within the building element is considered using the following formula: U-value = 1 / (sum of all R-values). The lower the U-value, the better insulated the building element is. So, a wall with a low U-value should prevent heat loss better than a wall with a high U-value.
This formula can be used to work out the U-value for a particular application. However, there are other aspects which should be considered, including thermal bridging factors of fixings or stud work.
To ensure accuracy in these calculations, the British Board of Agré ment (BBA) offers a voluntary competency scheme. Registrants are put through a rigorous assessment process to confirm their technical competency and procedural rigour. For quality assurance, it is always worth checking the calculations provided, whether from suppliers or via a U-value calculator, are approved under the BBA/TIMSA competency scheme.
While U-values are the primary consideration in insulation specification, the standard of detailing should also be closely controlled. As buildings are insulated to higher levels, these areas take on greater importance and poor workmanship can badly undermine the long-term performance of the building envelope. Condensation risk analyses can help to highlight potential issues, allowing them to be effectively addressed during construction.
There are two ways condensation can affect insulation:
This occurs on the face of a construction. It can lead to mould growth, compromising internal air quality and the appearance of walls. Thermal bridges are one of the primary causes of this type of condensation. Heat is drawn out at these points, leaving the facing colder than its surroundings.
This occurs between layers of the building element and can cause deterioration or even failure of the components. It is essential that constructions are designed to prevent this, or that an adequate ventilation solution is provided &#; removing any condensation.
CRAs are performed in accordance with BS : +A1: (Code of practice for control of condensation in buildings). The analysis considers various factors including the materials specified, their order within the building element, the overall building use and the local climate (using Met Office data).
The placement and thermal performance of the insulation layer is crucial in maintaining other materials above their dewpoint temperature and so avoiding the formation of condensation. Vapour control layers can also be placed on the warm side of insulation, minimising any water vapour passing from warm to cold sides of the construction and condensing. CRAs are also considered under the BBA/TIMSA competency scheme.
The Each Home Counts review brought further focus on the gap between the designed and actual performance of properties. By carefully installing innovative insulation products, backed with accurate U-value calculations and CRAs, it should be possible to close this gap and deliver slim, highly efficient constructions.
For example, the latest generation of rigid phenolic insulation boards can achieve thermal conductivities of just 0.018 W/m·K. Compared with other commonly used insulation materials, it can achieve the same level of thermal performance (R-value)[1] with a reduced thickness:
Lambda (W/m
.
K)
Insulation
Thickness (mm)
0.018
Phenolic
55
0.022
PIR
65
0.038
Mineral Fibre
110
One application where this enhanced performance is particularly beneficial is cavity wall constructions. Contractors are reluctant to expand the thickness of these constructions much beyond 300 mm; however, remaining within these dimensions while also achieving a compliant level of thermal performance can be challenging.
At Cwrt Y Bedw, a collection of 82 homes near Swansea (pictured, top), phenolic cavity insulation boards with a composite foil facing were chosen. This allowed the development to secure a compliant level of thermal performance, within a standard cavity depth, using a material the installation team was already well used to.
The need for accurate calculations and top-performing insulation is greatest when space is at a premium.
At the Woodside Fountain Health Centre in Aberdeen, designers wanted to create a spacious roof terrace with a floor insulated to a U-value of 0.15 W/m2. K. At the same time, they needed an even transition from the internal space to the terrace to meet access requirements. U-value calculations showed this wouldn&#;t be possible with conventional insulation so instead they specified a vacuum insulation panel (VIP) system.
The system comprises 30 mm VIPs with a thermal conductivity of 0.007 W/m. K and PIR infill panels of the same thickness, which were fitted around the perimeter and to allow for penetrations. A layer of rigid extruded polystyrene insulation was installed above the system, followed by a waterproof membrane and the balcony surface. This slim construction ensured level access while meeting the U-value requirements.
The design and performance of insulation materials has progressed significantly over recent decades. However, for the products to achieve their potential, it is essential for specifiers and installers to make use of accurate, independently verified U-value calculations and CRAs.
By checking specifications through these services, and taking due care and attention during the installation, it should be possible to create buildings which deliver excellent long-term energy performance with slim building envelopes.
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[1] R-value of 2.857 m2K/W
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