Canadian Design and Construction Report special feature
Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance’s largest world-wide manufacturing facility has been in operation in Toronto since 1930 and is considered Canada’s leader in the promotion and delivery of green roof applications.
Paul Sheehy, vice-president, sales for North America – Tremco Canada, says Tremco innovates, not only solving problems but improving performance and energy savings. “We were the first company to introduce cold process roofing solutions to the market, reducing the inherent fire risks associated with roofing and have been involved in hundreds of millions of square feet of successful applications,” he said. “We also provide innovative cool roofing products that perform well above standard ‘single-ply’ solutions.”
“More importantly, our success is supported by a unique corporate culture. In the past 16 years only one employee from our roofing team has left to seek, what they perceived, as a better opportunity outside of Tremco. I am confident that very few companies could match such an enviable record. Our people are dedicated to Tremco and our customers.”
“Our role and impact in the marketplace is clear,” Sheehy said. “We’ve been specified on more re-roofing projects at Ontario hospitals, colleges, school boards and universities than any other manufacturer and we are the go-to manufacturer when long term solutions, rather than the lowest installed cost, are the deciding factor.”
Demand for green roofs is growing. Tremco Roofing has been used for one million sq. ft. of vegetative roofing throughout Ontario.
Sheehy says at least part of the company’s success is due to the wide acceptance of Tremco’s quality within the design community.
“We have an unparalleled history and success with sustainable roofing and cold-process systems and products,” he said. “We have also been providing educational seminars for environmental excellence for fifteen years and sponsor the University of Toronto Daniel’s School of Architecture’s Building Ecology, Science and Technology (BEST) lecture series, which will soon begin its fifth year.” Last year, BEST lectures attracted almost 800 guests, and the Ontario Association of Architects issued 502 certificates for two core learning credits.
Tremco’s commitment to education extends beyond lectures and seminars. “We are extremely proud of our lead sponsorship of the University of Toronto’s Green Roof Innovations Testing Laboratory (GritLab) which will, we are confident, have a profound impact on the future design of green roofing, once all of the research is completed and published,” Sheehy says.
“The GritLab provides a platform for multi-disciplinary research and education by linking the fields of landscape architecture, biology, hydrology, building science and media design.”
Tremco Roofing is actively involved with many charitable and environmental organizations, including Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Metal Health (CAMH), which has received all funds raised from the company’s annual golf tournament. “Along with our co-sponsors we have donated more than $500,000 to CAMH to date and we were deeply honoured when CAMH, this year, named their new Child Ambulatory Centre the Tremco Roofing Child Ambulatory Centre” Sheehy says.
The company’s 400,000 plus sq. ft. Toronto manufacturing facility diverts 100 per cent of its non-hazardous waste from landfill. It also has three cooling towers to re-circulate manufacturing water processes, reducing potable water consumption from 91 million gallons to 19 million gallons per year, while saving 711,000 kWh of energy in 2010.
“Our commitment to the environment and to practicing what we preach doesn’t stop there,” Sheehy said. “Our corporate head office was retrofitted in 2011, taking a 40 year old building and turning it into a LEED Gold facility with only two per cent of the waste from our retrofit not recycled.”
Tremco Roofing and Building Maintenance is part of the RPM Building Solution Group (RPM BSG) and “together are global sustainability leaders and who, as part of its corporate mandate, must consider people, planet and prosperity in all our business decisions,” Sheehy said.
For more information, visit www.tremcoroofing.com
