New Roof. Huge Savings. A Brighter Future!
The existing roof at the BDCC Business Park on Putney Road was nearing the need for replacement. Eighteen years of harsh Vermont weather—heavy snow loads, ice storms, UV rays, massive downpours—had taken its toll on the flat, 300,000+ square foot surface. (Fun fact: 300,000+ square feet = 7 acres.) Repairing and replacing this roof would be a massive undertaking, one that could have wide-ranging impacts on the businesses that operate there.
The old roof of the BDCC Business Park with partial silicone coverage in white.
The original quote BDCC received was for a tried-and-true EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) roofing system, to be installed in stages, over several years, at a cost of $5 million. That project would involve ripping the old roof off (including insulation) and filling 200 dumpsters, creating a huge impact on the environment and requiring periodic shutdowns for tenants housed in the areas where the roofers would be working.
“The disruptions such a project would impose on our tenants seemed untenable,” said Al Claussen, BDCC’s Real Estate Director. Many of BDCC’s tenants at the Business Park deliver essential services and resources that significantly benefit our community., especially in addressing critical needs like food security, including Food Connects and the Vermont Foodbank. Any prolonged disruption to their critical operations could leave the region’s most vulnerable citizens with a food shortage. This roofing project, while seemingly a mundane maintenance issue, would play a critical role in determining whether the businesses at the Business Park could operate reliably and maintain continuity in their essential work.
While attending a trade show in the spring of 2024, Al and Dan Floyd, BDCC Maintenance Manager, discovered an alternative to EPDM that seemed worthy of investigation—a silicone roofing system. Present at the trade show were a representative for Holcim, the global leader in roofing and holder of the warranty on the silicone roofing system, and the owner of Certified Roofing, a commercial roofing contractor, who explained that the silicone would be applied over the existing roof, requiring just minor repairs to any compromised sections.
Upon returning to BDCC, Al and Dan continued to investigate the silicone system and liked what they learned, as did the BDCC Board of Directors: disruptions to tenants would be minimal; the application of the silicone would take a few weeks and not be spread out over a few years; the silicone would be seamless—zero leaks; there would not be 200 dumpsters of roofing debris being hauled away to landfills; and the price would plummet from $5 million to just $1.8 million, a cost-savings of $3.2 million.
Certified started work on the Business Park roof in early October. As of this writing in late-November, the project is complete… just in time for the next Vermont winter.
“This will extend the life of the roof by at least 20 years, and that’s guaranteed by Holcim,” said Al, adding, “The true bottom line is that the new roofing system represents an insurance policy for the future of the Business Park, and true peace of mind for our tenants.”
The fully covered, seamless roof.
