Engineered for extremes

By Emma Peterson. 

Metal roofing is rising in popularity around the country thanks to its ability to withstand various climates. 

In his role as a regional sales manager for Westlake Royal Building Products, Mitch Heitsch works with contractors and clients across various regions, from North Dakota to Florida. This has given him a unique perspective on how different roofing products and materials perform in different climates. To share what he has seen, he stopped by MetalCoffeeShop® for an episode of MetalCast™.  

Mitch opened the conversation by discussing the different factors impacting roofing in the regions he covers, sharing, “It's been a lot of fun to see the vast difference across regions. For example, in Florida, we tend to get kind of tunnel visioned into wind uplift and wind driven rain and those kinds of topics, but getting further north, now you're starting to talk snow loads and hail impact.”  

And the common thread across these regions? The rising interest in metal roofing. In Mitch’s opinion, the biggest reason for this popularity is metal’s performance. He explained: 

From winds to snow to wildfires, metal roofing checks all the boxes. Take Westlake’s Unified Steel as an example. In a wind uplift category, we have testing standards that get us up over 200 miles an hour. In a hail category, we carry very severe hail (VSH).  When you start talking about fire prone areas, we are a class A rated system product...Further, you can design Unified Steel as a cool roof system, where air is constantly flowing above the roof deck and keeping the home cooler. 

While this incredible performance might be the main reason, there are still other factors that are influencing the rise of metal. One is insurance costs. Mitch explained, “I think insurance is driving a lot of the conversation about performance. As our weather grows more extreme, these companies are demanding higher performing roofs.”  

Overall, metal is rising in popularity across regions for its durability and performance. As Mitch put it, “We’re seeing a general shift in people trying to move towards prepping themselves for weather events versus being reactionary to it. And a metal roof is often part of that preparation.” 

Listen to the whole conversation or Watch the episode to learn more about the rise of metal roofing.