From niche to mainstream: The growth of polymeric roofing

By Emma Peterson. 

Industry experts break down how innovation and awareness are gaining polymeric roofing traction across the industry. 

Recently, the polymeric roofing market has been growing in popularity. To talk about the momentum behind these products, Megan Ellsworth hosted Dylan Faust, Zach Stopyro and Thomas Knuckey for an episode of Roofing Road Trips®. Dylan is the technical service manager at EcoStar, Zach is the director of technical services and installation Westlake Royal Roofing Solutions, Thomas is the director of product management at Brava Roof Tile and all three of them are members of the Polymeric Exterior Products Association (PEPA). 

When asked about the rise of polymeric products in the roofing industry, Zach started by sharing some background about the history of polymeric roofing products:  

Years ago, when they first were released, many polymeric products were much higher priced than more mainstream products. The cost was what always drove people away from those products. And slowly that gap has closed a little more. Also, technology has gotten a lot better, building manufacturing has gotten a lot better, so polymeric is able to be made much better and much quicker, which helps close that gap. 

In addition to the price of polymeric becoming much more competitive these days, there has also been a lot of work done to raise awareness of polymeric as an option. Dylan explained, “Polymeric has been around since the nineties, but a lot of people don't know about it and don’t understand how polymeric products are going to perform compared to more well-known materials, like slate, shake and concrete. So a lot of what we’re seeing as a rise in popularity right now is just a rise of awareness.”  

And a lot of the rise in awareness of polymeric can be credited to the work of organizations like PEPA. Thomas explained:  

PEPA’s work is three-tiered. First, it's focused on expanding the synthetic or composite market that we're all in through codes and testing standards and development. The second tier is education and workforce development; so really focused on preparing a workforce on what it takes to install and work with polymeric products. And then the third tier is fostering innovation and building community. And that’s focused on continuing to pick momentum up and really raising awareness so that this niche keeps moving into a mainstream solution. 

Want to learn more about the rise of polymeric roofing products and PEPA’s role in that? Listen to the whole episode!