ST. STEPHEN’S CATHEDRAL TAKES THE “LEED” WITH SURE-WELDâ TPO MEMBRANE
(Carlisle, PA) – St. Stephen’s Episcopal Cathedral has stood serenely overlooking the Susquehanna River in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania since 1826. A site on the National Register of Historic Places, the Cathedral has had many additions to its original structure in the ensuing 178 years, including the 160-year-old Cathedral House and a nearly 80-year-old, four story parking garage. The Cathedral complex has also housed an Episcopal school for more than 20 years.
Parishioners were determined to expand the school and renovate existing buildings, while adhering to their doctrine of environmental stewardship. Consequently, they made building design decisions based upon energy conservation to limit the impact upon their surroundings. As a result, the Cathedral is the first church in the United States to register facilities with the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Rating System. The LEED Green Building Rating Systemâ is a voluntary, consensus-based national standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. It provides a complete framework for assessing building performance and meeting sustainability goals.
The parish engaged the Harrisburg-based architectural firm, McKissick Associates, to execute the design for the renovations and additions. And after a year of planning, which included an agreement with Interfaith Power and Light to provide green design services, a grant from the Sustainable Energy Fund of Central Eastern PA, and a variety of other sources, the project commenced.
One of the criteria for the LEED project was to replace the roof with a white, TPO membrane that helps mediate the “urban heat island effect” due to its highly reflective characteristics. This reflectivity dramatically reduces solar heat gained through the roofing surface, allowing the building to stay cooler, use less energy, specifically in the summer months, while emissions from power generation are decreased as well as the potential for the creation of atmospheric ozone; a major air quality issue.
Carl Kanaskie, project architect for McKissick Associates, provided the reasoning behind specifying Carlisle SynTec Incorporated’s Sure-Weld TPO membrane in the design.
“There were two main reasons that we used Carlisle’s Sure-Weld TPO Mechanically-Fastened roofing system,” Kanaskie explained. “First, Carlisle is a company with which we are familiar, and have had previous experience with the dependability of their single-ply roofing systems. Secondly, the white TPO membrane that was installed allowed us to diminish the urban heat island effect and conform to the LEED guidelines.”
McKissick Associates specified 60-mil thick Sure-Weld membrane for the 4,500-square foot project. Six inches of Carlisle Polyiso insulation was attached to the roof deck with Carlisle fasteners and plates. The Sure-Weld TPO membrane was then fastened to the insulation using Carlisle HP-X Fasteners and Piranha Plates. Adjoining sheets of Sure-Weld membrane were welded together with hot air welders.
Applying the roof was Ewing Roofing, a Harrisburg area contractor. A degree of difficulty was experienced with the deck membrane having to be applied to both a wood gable roof and two flat steel roof structures. According to Chuck Ewing, who managed the roofing project for his firm, “The wooden gable roof on the garage building was the only tricky part of the process. It’s a four-story structure and is very steep at the edges. Carlisle’s Sure-Weld TPO membrane went on smoothly and we finished the job in four days. Because of the membrane’s superior seam welding properties, a continuous monolithic roofing assembly was created for the Cathedral renovations.
An added benefit from the “green” element of the roofing project was the fact that the Sure-Weld membrane is produced without plasticizers and contains no chlorinated ingredients. Additionally, it does not contain any ingredients that promote the growth of mildew, fungi, bacteria and algae, and carries the EPA ENERGY STARâ label. As an ENERGY STAR Roof Products Partner, Carlisle ensures that Sure-Weld meets the ENERGY STAR Roof Products Program guidelines for energy efficiency by helping to reduce energy consumption and costs.
With a new white roof crowning their “green” project, the members of the St. Stephen’s congregation can enjoy the energy savings projected in the McKissick Associates planning process. But, more importantly, their commitment to environmental stewardship has been affirmed by their renovation efforts of a lovely and historic church.
Founded in 1972, Ewing Roofing is a Carlisle SynTec Incorporated Hall of Fame member, having completed in excess of 250 “Perfect 10” or flawless comprehensive inspections on roofing installations using Carlisle products. The firm, located in Camp Hill, PA, is one of only 160 Carlisle Authorized Applicators worldwide that have achieved this distinction.
Carlisle SynTec Incorporated has been a leading manufacturer of single-ply roofing systems and products for more than 40 years. For more information, write to Carlisle SynTec Incorporated, P.O. Box 7000, Carlisle, PA 17013; contact Melissa Mulligan, Advertising Department, at 1.800.4.SYNTEC; or visit our website at www.carlisle-syntec.com.
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