As an architect tasked with overseeing your project's success, having access to a source for high-quality roofing products—and the expertise needed to understand how they work together—is key. This is true whether you're specifying the roof design for new construction or a tear-off on an existing building.
GAF, North America's largest roofing manufacturer, offers a suite of tools to make your job easier. From product data and CSI specifications to green building solutions, design support services, and virtual design tools, GAF has you covered.
Here's a closer look at some of the resources GAF has created to help you design a superior roofing system.
Comprehensive Specifications for Roofing Systems
Getting started with the Roof Designer's Guide Book can give you a quick overview of GAF low-slope roofing systems and their components. The guide includes an introduction to membrane types, attachment methods, insulation, cover boards, and perimeter edge metal. Various types of roofing overburden (such as vegetative roofs, water tanks, pavers, and roof-mounted solar panels) are also addressed.
In addition, the 3-part CSI specifications from GAF give you comprehensive, editable CSI specifications in Word doc format, ready for download. Specs are also available for various GAF roof systems, including TPO, PVC, asphaltic systems, and coatings.
Each specification section includes all applicable GAF system components, so you're not scrambling to develop separate specs for scuppers, pipe boots, or expansion joint covers. For more complex projects, the GAF Design Services team can help you develop custom specifications.
Innovative Tools That Save Time and Money
In addition to high-quality roofing products, commercial specifications, and expert design services, GAF also offers several tools you can leverage.
QuickMeasure™
The GAF QuickMeasure™ tool can save your firm valuable time and money on replacement roof design projects. You simply provide the property address and the tool delivers a detailed report with measurements of roof area, pitch, parapet walls (including height, width, and thickness), facets, eaves, flashings, drip edges, and roof penetrations. It gives you estimated quantities of roof materials, too.
Your GAF QuickMeasure™ report also includes aerial photos of the roof over time, grid line layouts (for buildings with a predominant roof pitch of 0 or 1), DXF files, and an interactive 3D rendering. Best of all, these materials are delivered to you in less than a day at an affordable price point.
BuildYourRoof
One of the most recent and innovative resources GAF offers is the BuildYourRoof tool. It allows you to virtually assemble a complete commercial roof assembly, calculate r-value, and obtain all applicable product documents including data sheets, environment sheets, and safety sheets, packaged in a comprehensive professional report. As you select your roofing components in step-by-step, drop-down menus, a virtual 3D roof prototype is assembled simultaneously. One of the many advantages of this tool is the Integrated Review feature. It automatically prevents you from using incompatible components and prompts you to make another selection (or include a component you may have inadvertently forgotten).
Cameron Baher, head of GAF Commercial business development & innovation, headed the team that developed BuildYourRoof. He notes that the tool's main purpose is to empower roofing professionals. "We wanted to create a tool that would educate and help you understand what a compatible roof assembly is," Baher explains.
He emphasizes that GAF regularly invites customer feedback and includes the findings in the creative process. "Nothing we make should be something that's coming from the ivory tower," he says. "This isn't something we're building in a boardroom. I want to make sure our customers know that we're listening to them and we're making improvements based on what they're telling us."
In fact, Baher says the latest iteration of the BuildYourRoof tool (which now includes R-value data integrated with project-specific, and minimum county/state code requirements) is the direct result of recent input from architects rolled out less than two months later. While more features are planned, the current tool supports TPO and PVC single-ply membranes, flat and tapered insulation, cover boards, thermal barriers, vapor retarders, and product accessories.
GAF Design Services Team Offers Valuable Support
With a plethora of materials and systems available for building design projects, it's often helpful to seek expert guidance.
The roof design experts on the GAF Design Services team are at the heart of the GAF customer experience. Professionally diverse and accessible by region, they stand ready to collaborate with you to help solve your toughest challenges. Representatives can assist with everything from product selection to customized specifications, LEED requirements, fastening patterns, sheet layout, and more, all tailored to your project's location and requirements.
Design Services team members are passionate about providing innovative solutions. You can use them as a resource on your next project by calling 877-423-7663 or emailing designservices@gaf.com.
Check out these indispensable tools and more available through GAF design professional and architect resources, your one-stop resource for all your roof design needs.
