Latest / RoofersCoffeeShop / Planning for Commercial Daylighting Success
Transcript
- Karen Edwards: Welcome to Roofing Road Trips, the podcast that takes you on a thrilling journey across the world of roofing. From fascinating interviews with roofing experts to on-the-road adventures, we'll uncover the stories, innovations, and challenges that shape the rooftops over our heads. So fasten your seatbelts and join us as we embark on this exciting roofing road trip. Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Roofing Road Trips from Roofers Coffee Shop. My name is Karen Edwards, and today's conversation is going to be all about planning for commercial daylighting success. And this is the second episode in a four-part series that we're going to be doing all about commercial daylighting. And joining me for this conversation is Is Brian Growy from V Lux Commercial. Brian, welcome to the podcast. Thanks, Karen. We always love participating with the Rupert's Coffee Shop, folks. So we're happy to be here today. Yeah, it's great to have you here. our first episode in this series talked all about the opportunities that are available in daylighting and how contractors can make jobs more profitable. So if you haven't listened to that one yet, that's okay. You don't need to have listened to that. To listen to this one, right? But we recommend going and checking that out after the fact. But today is all about planning for success. And before we dive into this conversation, Brian, introduce yourself. Tell us a little bit about your background and your role there with V Lux Commercial. Yeah. Again, my name is Brian Grow. Yeah, I'm the director of commercial sales here at V Lux Commercial with the US sales organization. I've been in the industry for a little over 15 years now. And my responsibility here at VLux is to not only develop the strategy on how we grow this category, but also how we go about implementing the the the tactics and initiatives that that help us make that progress. So very, very in tune with the industry of across all across all the channels we sell into and and looking forward to have this discussion. Yeah, yeah. So if if a contractor, you know, is is taking on a project. That involves daylighting. What are some things that they should be looking for when they're reviewing the specifications for the job? Yeah, the first thing really to understand in the specifications is what type of skylight is being installed? is it a plastic skylight? Is it a glass skylight? is it a translucent skylight? Having that understanding will really give the contractor a very big indication of what will be involved in the installation process specifically. whether it's considerations for how the material will arrive on site, how they will need to assemble the material, what other roofing work will need to be done to finalize the installation in the roof. but understanding what type of product is really the first step in in understanding just what type of work that they'll need to bid on the project to complete the work. Yeah. I you mentioned three different types there plastic, glass. Or translucent. Yes. What what determines? how do people make that choice? And I know this is a question probably we have later planned for later in the conversation, but I'm curious. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Let's talk a little bit about that. Yeah. So there's a couple of different reasons to choose each of the products that I mentioned. plastic skylights are typically more of the unit skylight type that are used in large open ceiling type applications, retail facilities, gymnasiums. industrial buildings. And the the the primary intent with that type of skylight is to bring as much high quality daylight into a space as possible so that you can reduce your electrical lighting needs. So that really will give you the energy efficiency potential, but also a a nice quality light distribution inside the space. glass skylights are typically more for installations that want to have a view to the exterior. Whether it's you know in the middle of a building where people don't have access to windows, but they still want to be able to see natural light, or some other reason. Typically glass is used when a connection to the outdoors is desired. You know, we're as humans, we're designed to be outside for the majority of the day. It the daylight regulates our circadian rhythm. So Having that exposure to daylight is important for our bodies. And glass skylights offer not only a way to have that connection, but they also offer a way to create architectural appeal for the building as well when the skylights will be visible. And then the third category, translucent, is a little bit newer form of daylighting. And I say newer, it's not brand new by any means, but it essentially is a way of Bringing natural light into spaces in similar ways as glass, but doing it in a much, much lighter product. So glass has a tendency to be very heavy. A lot of times you'll have to design structural considerations into a building in order to be able to accommodate the weight, the the wind pressure, the deflection of the of the skylight curve that it's sitting on. Whereas translucent, because it's such a lighter material, you can accomplish a lot of the same things, which with much less design consideration because there's less weight to it. but if they're reviewing specifications, a lot of times whoever created the spec has already made that decision, right? Absolutely. Architects or whoever's developing the specification usually will have a very clear idea of what the intent of using any type of daylighting product is and will select appropriate options that will accomplish that that goal for them. Excellent. So we're talking about planning for success. So what kind of planning considerations should contractors be looking at if they're if it they're looking at new construction or they're looking at retrofit, there's gonna be some differences. Can let's talk a little bit about that. Yeah. So the first thing to consider is based on the product, what is the lead time going to be? You know, some of the products like plastic units skylights have a much, much shorter lead time. It could be as quick as a few days. and that's an important differentiator because whether it's a new construction project that has a very cadenced sequence of events that has to occur for the roofer to start the roofing work in general, or if it's a retrofit where hey, there's a need, they can have access to the building right away. As soon as they can get the materials, they can get on the roof. those that's a big differentiator to look at whether it's o between new construction and replacement. and then another one is the amount of space that will be required to receive the materials. unit skylights typically tend to stack much higher on a pallet and come much much more neatly packaged than structural glass does. Where structural glass, because of the weight and the fragility of the glass, has to be packaged differently. So it may come in more pallets, require more space for staging on a job site. that will have to be considered as the contractor prepares to load the material on the roof and eventually install the material. Yeah. I was thinking, you know, how how are you gonna get the material on the roof too? Yes. Right? Something that you have to think about as well. Yeah. so in a in the the case of a a retrofit, you know, if a building is getting an entire new roof and new daylighting. Yeah. Does it make a difference it what which which comes first, right? The chicken or the egg, the roof or the daylighting system? It it it does and it doesn't. and what I mean by that is we can incorporate some type of daylighting solution into any kind of roof. there are certain types of roofs or certain types of daylighting products that if you were to consider it early in the d earlier in the design phase, it would be helpful. typically the weight and the size of the opening of the skylight are are the two big driving factors there. If you've got a large, if you've got a large skylight with a very large span, we need to understand how the the opening is going to be covered until the skylight is on site or how long it will take to install the skylight so that the contractor knows what that work sequence should look like to keep the building watertight. or if it's just something that will arrive on site and they can put right on the building, it's it's a little bit simpler and and more straightforward. So is this the kind of information that V Lux provides before the installation begins? You work with the contractor to figure that out. Absolutely. Typically in the in the the in the bidding phase, we're giving the contractors as much information as possible to give them the ability to plan. as best they can, barring unforeseen circumstances, obviously. But the more information they have up front and the more that we can provide them at one time so they have everything at their fingertips just makes their life easier. And you know, contractors are busy, there's a lot of things going on on a pro on a job site. So having all the relevant information in a very digestible format when they need it is a is a is a key to making sure that the contractor experience with us as a manufacturer is a good one. Yeah, for sure. Okay. So what role do engineering drawings and the technical support that you offer play in the success of the installation? Yeah. So our first is the the drawings that we provide are gonna are gonna give the contractor all the dimensions, the weights and the testing that the that the product has. So that they know what to plan for on the roof itself. if it's just a if it's a structural glass skylight that's comes in pieces, has different curb conditions, sometimes those curves have to be installed or built by other trades. So having that information up front gives them the ability to coordinate or ask us for guidance on how to find a a another trades company that can handle that. So Providing them all the information up front makes their life easier and gives them the ability to have a successful execution of the project without any challenges. Right. Easy button. That's what we want. We want projects that are easy and everything goes as planned. Although we know, you know, sometimes not everything goes as planned. Right. Right. So how do you help with simplifying the estimating and the ordering process? Yeah, we're trying to provide the contractor with a list of criteria up front that we need. And we're trying to do it with as little back and forth as possible. So we have standardized forms that we use to make sure that we're getting the right information up front so that the contractors just have to submit the information that first time and we have everything we need to provide them not only a timely quote, but all the other supporting documentation that na That day you would need as well. The the worst thing to do for a contractor is to make them communicate back and forth and spend more time trying to get answers because we're all busy. So if we if we simplify that process and make it easy for them to to work with us, contractors find a lot of value in that. Definitely. Are there some common mistakes that you see? because you've been doing this 15 years, right? Long time. That's a lot of daylighting. Let's talk about some of those common mistakes so that our listeners can make sure that they don't make them. Yeah. I think the the the the simplest one from our standpoint is what to measure on a skylight. And this is really more applicable to replacement opportunities, which again are probably the majority of the of the market. And a lot of people because their skylights already installed on a roof. They're not really sure what to measure. Do they measure the plastic, the frame, the curb, different parts of the frame? And we try and tell c contractors the outside finished curb dimension is the only thing we need to appropriately size a skylight. It doesn't matter what the frame looks like or the size of the glazing. We just need the finished outside curb because ultimately that's what we need to size our material to to ensure that it fits the opening. Yeah. Okay. So you just said size our material. So you've got obviously you've got to have some standard sizes, right? We do. But you do custom as well. So let's talk about that. Yeah. So we for our unit sky, we have twenty-one standard sizes and we stock the majority of those for quick shipment. So when contractors need something, we have it in stock and they can they can receive it within just two or three days typically if if it's a standard size. And then if it's an oddball size or they have to repurpose an opening for something, we can make a custom size skylight down to any quarter inch increment. So the ability to take existing openings without having to do any type of curb modifications or demo on the roof is very helpful for contractors. They can just get a new unit in, take the old one off, set the new one down, screw it in, and be done with it. Yeah, 'cause there's always gonna be that one that's like, it's just a half an inch off, right? Absolutely. But we can accommodate those, so we're happy to do it. So if it is a custom, how what's the turnaround time usually on those? Yeah, typically we have a very quick turnaround time. anything that's less than a hundred and fifty units, we're typically three weeks or less to s procure the material, cut it down and and form it so that we can make the complete units. So we're we typically lead the industry and how fast we can get those on site. That's typically a worst case scenario. Many times we're getting them out in just a couple of days. So the speed of of the our ability to make the skylights quickly is the benefits of the contractors who are trying to get work done and move on to the next project. Okay. So we talked, you know, we're we're talking about planning for success. but I I want to also, you know, common common mistakes, not knowing what to measure, sending the wrong measurement. what about during the installation? And we're probably gonna go even deeper on this. Yeah. but are there some like important quick tips that you could share for that making the installation successful? Yeah. the really the the two main things I would say is one, ensure you have the space on the roof to to to to raise the entire palette. If you do one by one for unit skylights, it'll significantly increase the amount of time it will take. if you can either crane or use some type of lift to get the skylight palette on the roof, it'll make installation a lot faster. and then secondarily, all skylights are made to be set in a in a consistent, equal way on a curb. And what I mean by that is the skylight shouldn't be abruptly pushed to against the frame on one side of the curb. It should be centered on top of the curb so that there's a little bit of finger room between all four sides of the curb and the skylight frame. And that's to allow for any type of building flexion on the roof from wind or just natural events. if they were too tight on top of the curb itself, it might twist and and bend the skylight in a way where it could break. So We intentionally leave a little bit of extra space between the frame and the curb to allow for some of that movement. Okay. So let's talk about planning for labor. Yes. Cause that's a big challenge right in the industry right now. So I mean and that could potentially influence the type of skylight that is selected, right? So talk about the differences. Like are there ones that can be installed by one person? Do you always need two people? Yeah. What does that look like? Yeah, so the the plastic unit skylights are great for two man crews. typically once they're loaded onto the roof, you know, one person's loaded and one person's guiding, then both can carry the units two at a time, set them down, fasten them in, and then move on to the next one. It's not a very material heavy installation, so As little as two people can make very quick work of unit skylight replacements. when you get into glass skylights, it's a little more complicated because those are typically assembled on site. So you're using a few more people to make sure that you're staging the material and pieces accordingly. You've got the right sequence of of parts to install. And then you've got the people who are doing the installation itself who are trying to follow the installation instructions and the In the most efficient way while also maintaining safe safety as well. So that's gonna be a little bit more labor intensive and require more planning. Yeah, yeah. And understanding, you know, as with anything, I think when there's multiple units to be installed, once you get that first one under your belt or the second one, then the rest are just gonna go much more smooth down and you won't be reading the instructions. Exactly. What about before the installation? What kind of resources do you have available on your website? are there videos? Are there, everybody loves watching a good YouTube video of how how to. What do you have available? We've got a a pretty heavily stocked YouTube page that's got all types of installation videos showing how all the products are installed on top of the roof. And then we also have a large team full of different types of resources. We have engineers on staff, we have estimators, we've got technical specialists, code specialists. So we've really got the the full spectrum of resources anybody would need for any type of skylight project. we just need to understand what the project looks like and how we can help. Right. Yeah. So planning for the job also involves that. pre-planning of looking at the materials, watching the videos, reaching out to the support teams that you have available to make sure the project's successful. Absolutely. All right. So what steps can our listeners today take to consider this in their next commercial project? Yeah. Reach out to us. we can find all of our contact information on our website, commercial.bluxusa.com or the Roofers Coffee Shop Directory. And we'll guide you step by step through the process and make it as simple as and painless as possible. Yes. And and your team is great to work with. We've been working with you guys for some time. Yes. And we've done some webinars about this. And we're be gonna be doing this series of of podcasts too, because it's really important that contractors understand the opportunities that are out there and benefits that daylighting can bring to building owners. Absolutely. Yeah, wow. Well thank you, Brian, for being here today. It was great to talk with you again. Thanks, Karen, as always. Yes, and thank you everyone out there for listening. Be sure to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform because we want to see you on a future episode of Roofing Road Trips. We'll see you next time. Bye. If you've enjoyed the ride, don't forget to hit that subscribe button and join us on every roofing adventure. Make sure to visit rooferscoffeeshop.com to learn more. Thanks for tuning in and we'll catch you on the next roofing road trip.