January 2016

A team of students from two New York universities was selected to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon in Irvine, Calif. Tasked with designing and building a cost-effective solar-powered house, the students turned to NRCA member Upstate Roofing and Painting, Rochester, N.Y., for training and support. When the team arrived in California to assemble their house, Upstate Roofing and Painting called upon another NRCA member to assist the students.

NRCA will host its 129th annual convention in conjunction with Informa Exhibition's 2016 International Roofing Expo Feb. 15-19 in Orlando, Fla. Roofing industry professionals who attend will have numerous opportunities to learn about the latest industry practices and products while interacting with peers from around the world.

Opened in 1928, New York's Playland Ice Casino is a historic amusement park that delights visitors with rides, a restaurant, dance floor and multiple ice rinks. More than 400,000 people visit the park's attractions each summer. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy inflicted heavy damage to Playland, but Milcon Construction Corp., West Babylon, N.Y., successfully renovated the ice casino’s roof system.

With the start of the new year, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act takes full effect. Regulations that postponed the mandate for employers with 50 to 99 full-time employees to provide health insurance to their employees have ended. The employer mandate rules now require employers with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees to offer health insurance to those employees or potentially pay fines.

NRCA has published The NRCA Roofing Manual: Metal Panel and SPF Roof Systems—2016 to provide new and updated best practice guidelines applicable to metal panel and spray polyurethane foam roof systems to roofing professionals. An SPF Task Force was formed to review and update the information about SPF roof systems contained in The NRCA Roofing Manual: Metal Panel and SPF Roof Systems—2012.