IRE Brings the Roofing Industry to Life

By Lauren White, RCS Editor. 

IRE 2021 did not disappoint and we can’t wait to experience it again in New Orleans in 2022! 

While I am not new to the trade show world, I am new to roofing trade shows. And the International Roofing Expo (IRE) 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada was an exhilarating and exhausting experience. As a writer and editor working remotely for RoofersCoffeeShop® I’ve interviewed people over the phone, had meetings via Zoom and written articles about campaigns, new products, project profiles and more.  But actually talking to people I’ve only “met” via email, visiting the booths, seeing and touching the materials and products I’ve only described, was a whole new experience and really made the roofing industry come to life for me. 

Vendors were excited to be in Las Vegas at a trade show, something that we’ve all been missing for a couple of years, and to be present for the contractors too. While it was a smaller show than normal, many commented that they enjoyed the slower pace because they could have a substantial conversation with anyone who walked by, which also meant I got to learn more from the experts!   

Read on for a glimpse of the conversations we had and what you can look forward to in New Orleans in just a few months! 

PABCO Roofing Products 

PABCO Roofing Products was eager to share with us about their Cascade Diamond shingles. They are the only company to have this shingle design, which pays homage to older shingles. Especially popular in North Carolina on more historic homes, the Cascade Diamond shingles look like slate from afar but cost a fraction of the price. These shingles ship across the U.S. even though the company is regional. The percentage of copper granules in the Cascade Diamond shingles is higher than others, making these shingles a preventative system to algae growing on a roof.   

They also shared with us about their Paramount Advantage shingles. These shingles have a tapered design, providing a unique look that also yields fewer sticking points with rain and debris. 

We learned a fun fact about their logo too! You’ll notice that the corners of the house don’t touch because “our house is never complete.” 

Leap 

Leap had a big presence at IRE. And there were a lot of new and exciting things they shared with us – new partnerships, new user interface and new hires! The integration with Company Cam was one of the main highlights, in addition to their new user interface. Leap is growing fast with new hires in sales, leadership and marketing. Contractors shared feedback about the site and Leap listened, resulting in an updated user interface. 

Breakthrough Academy 

Quick Tools for contractors! Breakthrough Academy (BTA) identified the top 10 issues contractors face and came up with these free tools. Designed to educate people and get quick info, Contractor Quick Tools are for people who are forward focused and want to incorporate tech into their company but are inundated with information, options and technical jargon. Contractor Quick Tools are interactive and include both a video and text, they’re fun and personable too. Each tool is free, downloadable and easy to use. Any tools that are documents have a blank and filled example because “blank documents are overwhelming,” Erin Scheel, manager of strategic partnerships for BTA, explained. A filled example and editable doc are provided for contractors to use. 

Owens Corning 

To help select their color of the year, Owens Corning hosted a women’s focus group.  The result? Aged Copper. Their booth at IRE was highly interactive with a mood board of their Aged Copper color of the year in addition to a nail zone challenge for their shingles and touchscreen quiz for contractors to test their Owens Corning knowledge. They were also very excited to talk about Design EyeQ, an online feature contractors can share with homeowners so they can visualize what their new roof will look like by “trying on” different colors and shingle options. 

JobNimbus 

With their main purpose to “Make more, work less” JobNimbus strives to help contractors boost their revenue by 43% and save their team 24 hours per week. They do this by helping contractors get: 

• Organized – With the Work Orders feature, contractors can optimize processes and turn jobs into bite-sized instructions for other team members to complete. Additionally, JobNimbus will automatically upload and organize mobile photos into folders so you don’t have to. 

• Efficient – From the calendar, assign work orders and get notifications instantly. Save time by easily automating tasks, emails and more. 

• Professional – Create new estimates in seconds with the estimate template and capture signatures from anywhere with the e-sign feature. 

• Profitable – Collect money faster and track invoices with ease all from one place.  The reporting dashboard view provides an in-depth review to maximize your revenue. 

Sashco 

The cobra nozzle! We were all too excited about this tool from Sashco. The Cobra Nozzle provides a quick fix seal for contractors’ lap joining needs. From their insights report, Sashco identified that contractors want all-purpose tools that will work in any weather.  And along came the Cobra Nozzle, a tool that produces a flat bead of caulking for flat joints. The Cobra Nozzle is self-tooling, cuts labor time in half and delivers up to 50% in material savings for contractors.  

Watch this video from IRE about their cobra nozzle.  

Bitec 

We spent a good amount of time speaking with the people at Bitec about their company culture!  They’ve been bringing new people in and growing, but also maintaining their family feel.  They’re all about fostering relationships, which was definitely exemplified in our conversation with them at IRE. While the culture is changing, one thing that remains the same is that they’re still willing to pick up the phone and have conversations with roofing professionals. 

Sherwin-Williams 

Phantom Metal Roof Sealant by Geocel was the main event for us at Sherwin-Williams. This color-matching sealant was designed for metal roofing substrates. With six translucent colors available – white, gray, bronze, green, blue, green – any metal roof color can still shine through and blend with the surface to not only look great, but also provide superior protection. This sealant saves time and money and is applicable in damp, cold and hot weather. 

MARCO Industries  

We were some of the first to hear that MARCO Industries launched their Python™ steep-slope ventilation line during IRE! This is their first debut into the residential market. The Python ventilation line has several ridge vent and static vent options available that are environmentally friendly. These products not only offer superior performance but are also easy to install.  

Their Python Weather-Tite™ rolled ridge vent is made of a high-performing, non-wicking modified polyester material, allowing you to cut where you want and use every piece, which means no waste! 

The rest of the products in their residential ventilation line are all made from no-break polypropylene material and include: 

• Python Weather-Tite™ FlexFit (TM) 3-IN-1 Ridge Vent 

• Python FlexFit™ 3-IN-1 Ridge Vent 

• Python 65 Slant Back Vent 

• Python 150 Round Vent  

Nearmap 

When we spoke with people at Nearmap, they wanted to emphasize that they provide flexible options that are tailored to suit YOUR business needs. Set up is quick and every Nearmap user has immediate access to MapBrowser, which is Nearmap’s web platform; no additional software is required. They have a variety of offerings depending on your visual map needs. These include: 

• Nearmap Vertical: High resolution, top-down imagery 

• Nearmap Oblique: Multi-perspective aerial view at a 45-degree angle.  This allows you to view four-directional aspects with a gallery of individual source images. 

• Nearmap 3D: 360-degree immersive view of 3D textured mesh in 3D Viewer.  You can pan and zoom and measure heigh, length, pitch, area and elevation. 

• Nearmap AI: View AI layers in MapBrowser to identify objects and other location attributes. Third-party integration is made easy with on-demand export and APIs. 

Conversations like these, and more, are what you can look forward to at IRE 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana. You won’t want to miss this event! 

Register today for IRE 2022!