WHAT CAUGHT OUR EYE

Ozbee Team Software

Ozbee

Making its debut on the 2022 IRE show floor was a new comprehensive software for contractors developed by roofing contractors.

For years after attending the IRE, Brad Beldon, CEO of Beldon Roofing Co. in San Antonio, added different elements to improve operations. Some didn’t take, or weren’t quite the right fit for his commercial roofing company, a perennial member of RC’s Top 100 list. But the majority of them were working. Still, it became apparent that teams were working in between multiple programs and spending a lot of time trying to fill gaps.

“We couldn’t find a one-stop solution that connects all aspects of a contracting business, so we spent three years creating our own,” said Beldon, also Ozbee’s CEO.

The Ozbee app integrates existing platforms, including Leap Digital for proposals, Salesforce CRM tools, CompanyCam for photo storage, and other apps available on the Salesforce AppExchange, so contractors don’t have to cobble together and manage multiple apps that don’t communicate with each other.

The real purpose is to provide a better overall user experience for roofers and their customers, Beldon explained. The belief is that with all essential documentation and project information in one place where multiple stakeholders can communicate, roof production becomes easier and more effective.  

That means applications well beyond roofing. The cloud-based platform is customizable for home builders, commercial builders, plumbers, electricians, etc.

Advanced Imagery Solutions with Optelos

Imagine Technologies Group with Optelos

Roofing contractors have had a lot of experience and success with adding drone technology to their service, safety and marketing efforts in recent years. The developers of Optelos and Imagine Technologies Group believe the industry is ready for the next step.

Early adopters of drone technology with their commercial roofing business in Ohio, John Kiesel and Ryan Resides developed a new way of capturing and using drone images to measure and estimate roofs – and a whole lot more. Using cutting-edge, cloud-based software, they’re able to stitch together a consistent, realistic image of any roof and all its intricacies. Combining that with the latest in virtual reality imagery, users become fully immersed in the program and get to experience the real-time condition of their roof without ever having to climb a ladder.

Roofers benefit from time savings and more accurate estimates that maximize materials. There’s also a tremendous impact on safety, and roofers can better connect with their customer with an interactive, educational experience.

“We’re really able to take the facility owner and move them atop the building and show them what needs repair, or what they should be worried about,” said John Kiesel, president of Imagine Technology Group. “It gives them an opportunity to say ‘I understand the issues happening on the roof and am willing to spend the money to fix it.’”

Nano Shield Roof Coating

NanoTech

New products and roof installation techniques are a staple of the IRE every year, and the 2022 show in New Orleans didn’t disappoint. Among the new offerings making a splash on the show floor was Nano Shield. The new offering from NanoTech is an attempt by the designers to meet a growing global demand for high-performing, eco-friendly fireproofing solutions in the building materials space.

While not new – passive fire-protection systems and coatings have been available for years – they can be toxic and hard to apply. Houston-based NanoTech set out to elevate a unique molecule to meet those problems head-on. The molecule can be adapted to provide both fireproofing and insulating in a single coating.

Developed with the help of roofing contractors, the product is the first offering from NanoTech, which has a mission to fireproof buildings while significantly reducing global energy consumption. Representatives said they achieved that in this breakthrough product, boasting that just 5 millimeters of Nano Shield has the equivalent insulating properties of several inches of insulating spray foam.

The developers also found the coating has a high emissivity, potentially reflecting more than 94% of the heat hitting on a roof.

The molecule can also be added to existing building materials to provide both insulation and fireproofing. Applications already include use in paints, resins, gypsum, cement, polymers, plastics, fiberglass and more.

Figuring out all of its potential uses is part of a “mad-scientist” approach to testing the product, which can be viewed in numerous YouTube videos and content streamed on its website.

“We’re willing to try just about anything because the molecule has proven so versatile, and we have a real passion from what we’re doing,” said David Bayler, executive director of roofing coatings applications at NanoTech, and co-owner of ParaTex Roofing & Construction in Katy, Texas.