IRE 2019: Education and New Products Take the Spotlight

Approximately 10 years ago, the marketing community was declaring conventions and tradeshows a dying industry. However, after attending the 2019 International Roofing Expo (IRE) in Nashville, Tennessee, last month, this notion has not infiltrated the roofing industry. With more than 14,000 attendees and nearly 500 exhibiting companies, the roofing industry certainly supports tradeshows and continues to find value in bringing together like-minded professionals and friendly competitors pitching their products, and selling their services.

The most striking takeaway from the IRE this year was that professional education and new product launches took center stage. As one of many exhibiting/sponsoring companies that promoted education and announced new products, it was evident that the roofing industry continues to support these endeavors. With so much activity on the tradeshow floor and the energy that consumes Music City, it was easy to miss some of these excellent promotions.

This post is part one of two, and will summarize of some of my favorite sessions from CCM's Training & Education Center on the show floor.

Worker Training Programs and NRCA ProCertification™
As the roofing industry faces compelling workforce challenges, it is more important than ever to offer exceptional training and a career path for field workers. Guest speakers from NRCA presented this session that focused on their training and certification programs, and provided guidance on how to attract and retain workers while maximizing productivity—and the bottom line.

Increasing Rooftop Productivity
With a shortage in qualified labor for the roofing industry, increasing productivity is now more important than ever. During this session sponsored by Versico, guests learned to save on labor and increase rooftop productivity by taking advantage of Versico’s deep lineup of labor-saving product options.

Proper Design & Detailing of a Metal Roof
Although not a single-ply presentation, this session -co-sponored by Sherwin-Williams and CCM’s Drexel Metals -was worth checking out if you wanted to Make More with Metal. During this session, important factors such as wind speed and other environmental elements, positive and negative loading, roof slope, and roof height were all discussed. All of these elements require special consideration when planning a metal roof system.

Single-Ply Roofing Adhesives - Seasonal Options
There is a wide variety of adhesive options in the market today: water-based, solvent-based, two-component, and pressurized adhesives; to list a few. The proper adhesive option is sometimes a difficult question to answer, especially when weather conditions become a factor. During this session, best practices were evaluated to promote optimal performance.

How to Save Material Costs and Labor by Using EPS in a Single-Ply System
CCM’s Insulfoam brand sponsored this session, which discussed how to achieve required R-values with fewer insulation layers and less time overall on the roof. Attendees learned how to get the highest R-value per dollar with hybrid EPS and Polyiso insulation systems in a single-ply system to save time and money.

Liquid Applied Roofing: Sustaining Roof Assets
CCM’s Carlisle Roof Foam and Coatings sponsored this presentation that covered tools and systematic approaches for evaluating existing roof systems, understanding application constraints, and keys to successful liquid-applied restoration systems.

Stay tuned for part two in a couple weeks.