Ontario Roofing News - Summer 2009
(click here for full magazine in Adobe pdf format).

     
ON THE COVER:  New Opportunities for the Roofing Industry in Solar
By KC Chang, SANYO Canada Inc.
With the introduction of Ontario’s new Feed-In Tariff (FIT) program in June 2009, as part of the Green Energy Act (Bill 150), there is a tremendous opportunity for both traditional and non-traditional players in this emerging renewable energy generation market. This article is intended to provide the roofing industry with an introduction to solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, and to help the roofing industry participate in this high growth market.   Read more...

BIPV Solar Technology Lands In Toronto
With green initiatives at the forefront of building design, OIRCA Associate Member Sika Sarnafil is currently supplying the first BIPV (Building Integrated Photovoltaic) 85kW solar electric system in Canada.  This rooftop system is being installed at the F.J. Horgan Water Treatment Plant in the City of Toronto.  The system manufactured by Solar Integrated is the first of its kind to be installed in Canada.  Read more...

Roxul Unveils $150-Million Milton Plant Expansion
Roxul Inc. officially opened its 700,000 sq. foot production facility in Milton, Ont. – a $150-million investment that will creat up to 100 new jobs and triple its production of environmentally friendly insulation.

“Roxul’s new facility will create good paying ‘green’ jobs, contribute to Ontario’s growth and increase energy efficiency across North America,” said Roxul President Trent Ogilvie. “This state-of-the-art plant also symbolizes the commitment to green growth of our parent Rockwool International and the support of the Ontario government.”   Read more....

Ontario’s Green Energy Act; Solar Collection And Rooftops
By Jim Norman, President, OIRCA
 It seems that you cannot pick up a construction or roofing industry magazine or journal these days without seeing an article on solar power collection and specifically photovoltaics (PVs).  The summer issue of this publication is no different.  We have included two articles on the topic including a “mini-project profile” reporting on Canada’s first building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) system being installed on a City of Toronto water treatment plant.   Read more...

Financing Roofing Education
By Don B. Marks, Executive Director, OIRCA
Elsewhere in this issue of the Roofing News you will read about our partnership with Conestoga College to build a roofing skills training centre at their Waterloo Campus.  While this is wonderful news and a long time in the making, it’s success and the future of industry training elsewhere in the province is not cast in stone.  Read more...

Owner/ General Contractor Payment Set-Offs:  A Predictable Cost Of Risk?
By Simon Fenn, President, Fenn & Fenn Insurance Practice Inc.*
One of the most frustrating things for me as a construction insurance broker is being unable to address the fact that in so many cases when something goes wrong on a construction project, the Owner or General Contractor holds back payment to the contractor for its progress payment or completed work, irrespective of insurance being involved to cover the incident. I suggest it may be time for the subcontractor to anticipate such situations within an annual cost of risk calculation to become part of your overhead.  Read more...

Membership News
The OIRCA Board of Directors is pleased to welcome the following new OIRCA members:  Read more...

Building Relationships in the Roofing Industry
2009 Joint OIRCA/RCI Conference:  September 25, 26, & 27, Blue Mountain Resort, Collingwood, Ontario
The theme for this year’s inaugural OIRCA/RCI Conference seems rather apropos.  For several years now there has been a voluntary duality of membership between our two organizations. 

It started when OIRCA established a Consultant Membership category, which ultimately resulted in a Board of Directors position for a Consultant Member.  A few years later, RCI Ontario Chapter reciprocated by creating an Industry Membership position for a roofing contractor on it’s Board of Directors.  Read more...

ICBEST 2010
NRC-IRC To Host Building Envelope Conference In Vancouver In 2010
Are you interested in staying up to date on the latest trends and technology in the building envelope engineering? If so, then you should reserve Jun. 27 to 30, 2010 in your agenda  immediately. On those dates, leading experts in building envelope engineering from the construction industry and the education and research communities will meet in Vancouver for International Conference on Building Envelop Systems and Technology (ICBEST) 2010.   Read more...

ROOFTech 2009
ROOFTech 2009, March 31st and April 1st, Canada’s only major exposition and educational forum on roofing systems and technology hosted over 2500 attendees to the two-day event.     Read more...

Two Major Funding Announcements At Conestoga College
Conestoga has recently had two large funding announcements to enhance the education and growth of the college.

On May 25, the Honourable Gary Goodyear, federal Minister of State for Science and Technology, and Kitchener-Conestoga MPP Leeanna Pendergast jointly announced major infrastructure funding for Conestoga College Institute of Technology and Advance Learning. This funding will result in Conestoga taking major steps forward to enhance its capacity to deliver applied learning. The total commitment announced by the two levels of government is in excess of $72 million.   Read more...

OIRCA Partners With Conestoga College To Build A Roofing Skills Training Centre
The Ontario Industrial Roofing Contractors Association (OIRCA) is very pleased and proud to announce that we have entered into an agreement with Conestoga College* to develop a roofing skills training institute at their Construction Centre of Excellence, Waterloo Campus.  The 12,400 square foot facility has been made possible through provincial and federal grants totaling $1M.   Read more...

New NRC Initiative on Bioproducts for Construction
Researchers at the National Research Council (NRC) in Ottawa have started a new R&D initiative on bioproducts for application in construction. Bioproducts are obtained from the use of biomass, that, renewable, biological-based, raw materials. The building blocks of biomass include vegetable oils, proteins, lignin, and complex sugars like cellulose and starch. Interesting sources of these building blocks are industrial by-products including, for instance, agricultural fibres.   Read more...

OIRCA Regional Profile - Greater Toronto Area