Conference Overview

Keeping You Covered
SPRI 27th Annual Conference and Business Meeting
January 16 - 18, 2009
Sandpearl Resort - Clearwater Beach, FL

For 27 years, SPRI has provided you with valuable connections to everything you and your company need to stay competitive in the roofing industry. This conference is a crucial element to providing you with the knowledge and relationships that will help your company’s growth.

Join us at the Sandpearl Resort in Clearwater Beach, Florida to celebrate and strengthen your connection to the SPRI network.

Connecting to the ICC
Steve Thorsell

This presentation provides an overview of the ICC Evaluation Service, Inc. (ICC-ES) evaluation program and the new Sustainable Attributes Verification and Evaluation (SAVE™) program. The SAVE™ program is intended to provide manufacturers with a source for obtaining third-party verification of environmental claims of their products. The nine predefined categories and the established guidelines will be discussed.

Steven R. Thorsell, AIA, CSI, is Director of Special Projects for ICC Evaluation Service, Inc. (ICC-ES), a subsidiary corporation of the International Code Council (ICC). Over the past 15 years, Thorsell actively participated in the research and evaluation of alternative and innovative materials and methods for code compliance. Thorsell is currently leading the development and implementation of a program for the evaluation of sustainable attributes of products.

NRCA Update
Bill Good

Bill Good provides an update on industry issues and NRCA activities including an analysis of how the change in the presidential administration will affect the roofing industry. He will discuss NRCA green and cool roof initiatives, including the work being done by the Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing. He will also address NRCA efforts to recruit and train qualified workers including an initiative to move training programs to an online format and efforts to improve relations with everybody's favorite scapegoat — FM Global.

Bill Good is Executive Vice President of NRCA, one of the construction industry's oldest trade associations and the voice of professional roofing contractors. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

The Post-Election Outlook for the U.S. Economy and the Construction Industry
Dr. William F. Ford

Using his unique style (and occasionally politically incorrect insight), Bill Ford will update us on the outlook for the economy and the roofing industry. Bill will focus special attention on possible changes in economic policies and regulations as the new administration and Congress get to work in Washington.

Dr. William F. Ford holds the Jack O. Weatherford Chair of Finance in the College of Business at Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN. Dr. Ford is a director of the National Association for Business Economics, the senior economic advisor to TeleCheck Services Inc., and past president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

The Greening of the Rooftop: The Role of the Roofing Industry in a Sustainable Future
Dr. Jim Hoff

Each year in North America, over 4 billion square feet of new roofing systems are installed on commercial and public buildings. If these roofs were constructed to meet best practice standards for energy efficiency, annual energy savings would exceed $.5 billion within 10 years. Expanded use of best practice technologies could also significantly reduce environmental impact by extending useful service life, provide a working platform for new environmental and energy technologies and prepare for eventual re-use and recycling. This presentation reviews the current challenges and opportunities facing the roofing industry regarding sustainable construction and provides an update of the Center’s activities over its first year of service.

Dr. Jim Hoff is an experienced researcher in the building materials industry and currently serves as research director for the Center for Environmental Innovation in Roofing in Washington, DC which is the industry’s voice for the green building movement Dr. Hoff also serves as President of TEGNOS, a research and consulting organization dedicated to expanding understanding of the building envelope. Dr. Hoff has also published numerous research articles on building system performance, quality management, and life cycle analysis.