LaGrange, Ohio -- West Roofing Systems Inc. gained two awards at the Spray Polyurethane Foam Alliance (SPFA) 2010 Conference and Expo in Orlando, Florida.
SPFA gave a Special Recognition Award to West Roofing for insulating 6.3 million sq.ft (585 000 sq.m) of temporary structures at 20 forward operating military bases during "Operation Iraqi Freedom." The company also received a Contractor Excellence Award for a quality roofing system installed at the Ohio Turnpike Administration Building in Berea, Ohio.
"The Special Recognition Award is not given annually," Kurt Riesenberg, executive director of SPFA explained. "It is presented only for projects of unique significance that illustrate the benefits of spray foam, such as West Roofing's work in Iraq."
Reisenberg said the Iraq contract was "one of the more emblematic projects in spray polyurethane foam (SPF) history, extraordinarily large in scope, leading to unprecedented impact on the safety, quality of life, and comfort of American soldiers serving in Iraq."
West Roofing sent 10 spray foam teams to Iraq to insulate tents, living quarters, office space, aircraft hangers, hospitals, computer rooms, bunkers, dining halls and warehouses on military bases to help reduce interior heat and cold, as well as mitigate dust and noise. Spray foam also strengthened the earth-built barriers that help protect structures in the bases from blasts and projectiles. The West Roofing teams worked in extreme heat, harsh environments, and had to contend with periodic enemy fire.
According to a West release, the insulated structures needed 80 percent less power for cooling and heating. The energy savings not only lowered fuel consumption on each base, but saved the military millions of dollars, West added. This also meant far fewer vulnerable fuel vehicles needed to travel over some of the most dangerous roads in the world.
Break-even point for such 'Exterior Insulation of Temporary Structures (EITS),' is about 75 days, when all aspects of fuel use and transport are taken into account, says a report from the US Army Material Systems Analysis Activity in July 2009. The report also estimated that annual cost savings of $65 million were made for currently foamed structures.
The award for the Ohio Turnpike Administration Building came after West provided a roof system which saved energy, repaired two persistent leaks, was environmentally friendly, and allowed for continued use of the building during installation.
An old EPDM roof was removed and recycled through West Development Group's "Roof-to-Roof" (R2R) recycling process - keeping tonnes of EPDM out of a landfill. The new SPF roof was coated with a low-solvent silicone topcoat that included recycled EPDM and prevented the release of about 1000 lb (450 kg) of hydrocarbons into the environment.
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