When a deteriorating tar and gravel roof began affecting patient care, directors at a California community hospital turned to a last solution: a sprayed-in-place silicone roofing system. To their delight, the new roof proved to be not only watertight. but also dramatically energy-efficient-- saving an estimated $17.000 a year on hospital electric bills.
The premature deterioration of its original bulk-up roof was causing major problems for Loma Linda Community Hospital in Loma Linda. CA. According to Chuck Whitlatch, the hospital's director of engineering. "We wore spending our time patching the roof: ceiling tiles were coming down: water was leaking into our operating rooms and out-patient rooms. We had to close rooms down and move sick people around."
The problem was quickly solved by the Bryant Organization. California's largest roofing contractor, who installed an energy-saving GE Silicone Roofing System made of lightweight urethane foam spray-coated with two layers of silicone rubber. The sprayed in-place replacement roof consisted of a water repellent, three pound per square foot density foam combined with a water resistant silicone rubber coating.
"What Loma Linda hospital needed was a long-term watertight roofing system. They got that as well as an energy-saving roof that will pay for itself after a number of years." said Bob Mars, manager of the Bryant organization's foam division.
A leaky challenge
Mars described what was involved in coming to the hospital's rescue to quickly establish a watertight condition: "The old roof had 150 leaks on 85,000 square feet We replaced 80,000 square feet of the roof in one week, with the air-conditioning units our biggest challenge. Seventy-four of them had to be lifted in order to install foam underneath them and at the base. This was necessary to ensure a watertight system that would protect all the key areas of the hospital. The metal coping had to be counterflashed--capped on both the inside and outside edges to prevent any water entry. Additionally. the coping joints were caulked with silicone to prevent any water from coming down the parapet wall." According to Whitlatch. the General Electric Silicone Roofing System was selected after evaluation of many types of roofs (including several elastomeric membrane systems) because of its ease and speed of application as well as its water resistance characteristics and low maintenance features. "We went with the GE system because it was 100 percent watertight with a completely sealed membrane," he added. "Another decisive factor was the system's ten year warranty. We knew we weren't working with a roofing contractor that was here today. gone tomorrow. From the time Bryant installed the system in the winter of 1981. we have had zero leaks."
The energy bonus
What Whirlatch hadn't counted on was the considerable fuel economies realized once the new roof was in place He recalls how Southern California Edison inquired about the hospital's dramatic reduction in energy usage and how impressed the utility was when it learned that the energy savings were a direct result of the installation of the new roof: "After monitoring our electric bills for 1982 and comparing them with 1981. we came up with a savings of $1405 a month, or $16,987 a year. The shield the roofing system provides really does the job. During the day we really feel the desert heat. but at night it gets quite cold. The system's insulation provides the warmth we need at night, and during the day we get the right amount of cooling without working our air-conditioners too hard" He concludes: "The hospital management is pleased with the new roof. It has given us significant dollar savings by eliminating the leaks. We would have been happy with just that, but the energy savings are a tremendous plus."
Technical assistance on this report was provided by Loma Linda Community Hospital. Loma Linda. CA, and General Electric Company, Silicone Products Division. Waterford. NY 12188
Reprinted with permission from: ENERGY MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY December/January, 1985 |