Category: <span>Uncategorized</span>

Category: Uncategorized

Revolutionizing Roofing: The AI Integration That’s Changing the Industry

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In the ever-evolving world of technology, the roofing industry is experiencing a transformation like never before. James Turner from Best Roofing shares his journey of integrating AI into his business, highlighting the profound impact it has had on efficiency and growth.

James Turner, a pioneer in leveraging AI for roofing, explains how his company was among the first to adopt AI voice technology. “We had to be one of the very first roofing companies in the country to get AI for voices,” he shares. Initially, it handled basic tasks like scheduling, but now it can send payment links, book appointments, and even provide quotes over the phone. This automation has streamlined operations, allowing his company to thrive with minimal staff.

Scaling with AI

Turner has successfully scaled his business without the need for additional staff. “In five years, we’ve only kept one sales rep and one virtual office assistant,” he notes. The AI-driven processes have allowed the company to handle more work efficiently, enabling them to focus on building relationships and maintaining high-quality service. “The roofing company almost runs itself,” Turner adds, highlighting the power of technology in modern business operations.

The Future of Roofing

The integration of AI doesn’t stop at administrative tasks. Turner envisions a future where drones and robots handle physical installations, addressing labor shortages and enhancing precision. “There will come a day when that’s the norm,” he predicts. While AI won’t replace the human touch in sales and relationships, it will undoubtedly make other processes more efficient. As AI technology continues to advance, the roofing industry stands on the brink of a new era. Companies like Best Roofing are leading the charge, demonstrating that with the right tools, the possibilities are endless. Subscribe now to stay updated on the latest in roofing technology and innovation.

Breaking Down the Tech Stack: Why Contractors Should Care (And How to Make It Work for You)

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Featuring Ken Kelly on the RT3 Podcast

If the term “tech stack” makes your eyes glaze over, you’re not alone. But before you tune out, you should hear what Ken Kelly has to say about it—because this retired contractor turned entrepreneur knows how to make technology actually work for roofing businesses.

In a recent Roofing Technology Think Tank (RT3) podcast episode, host Karen Edwards sat down with Ken to unpack what a tech stack really is, why it matters, and how contractors can use tools like ERPs, CRMs, and other software to streamline operations and grow their businesses.

And let’s be clear—this isn’t just a tech guy talking theory. Ken’s been in the trenches.

From Roofer to Innovator

Ken Kelly is the former head of Kelly Roofing, and he’s also the 2021 RT3 Innovator of the Year and a 2015 Microsoft Visionary Award winner. Now retired from the day-to-day, he spends his time traveling, running businesses, and giving back through humanitarian efforts.

But before all that, Ken was a contractor just trying to make things more efficient—and that’s how he got into tech. Not for the buzzwords, but because the right tools helped him run a better business.

So… What Is a Tech Stack, Anyway?

Ken explains it simply: your tech stack is the collection of digital tools your business runs on. Think of it like your truck toolbox—except instead of wrenches and hammers, you’ve got:

  • ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) – handles core operations like scheduling, materials, billing
  • CRM (Customer Relationship Management) – tracks leads, customers, and communication
  • Back-end systems – keep your data flowing smoothly between tools

Each one does a specific job, and when they all work together, they can save you time, prevent mistakes, and help you make smarter decisions.

Why Contractors Shouldn’t Ignore This

Ken’s advice? Don’t wait until things are broken to upgrade. Even small changes—like better customer follow-up using your CRM—can lead to more jobs booked and less chaos in the office.

He shares real-world examples from his own experience, like how his team used automation to eliminate redundant data entry and how syncing systems helped avoid costly errors.

And here’s the kicker: you don’t have to be a tech expert. You just need to understand what’s possible—and work with partners who know how to plug it all in.

Hot Tips from Ken:

  • Start with pain points: What’s driving you crazy? There’s probably a tool that can fix it.
  • Integration matters: Make sure your tools talk to each other. It’s no good if your CRM and ERP are on different islands.
  • Use data to guide decisions: The more you track, the more you can improve.
  • Don’t overcomplicate it: You don’t need the fanciest system—just one that works for your business.

Bottom line? Tech doesn’t have to be intimidating—and if you do it right, it can be a game-changer. Ken makes it clear: a well-built tech stack isn’t just for big companies. It’s for smart ones.

Want to hear Ken’s full insights? Check out the episode here: RT3 Podcast with Ken Kelly

NRCA Invites Industry Stakeholders to Attend Roofing Day in D.C. 2024

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Meet with members of Congress and deliver the industry’s message with one voice during this important event.

The National Roofing Contractors Association invites all industry professionals to register for Roofing Day in D.C. 2024 April 16-17. The event’s purpose is to bring the roofing industry together to meet with members of Congress and their staffs and deliver the industry’s message with one voice.

It is crucial members of Congress see roofing contractors, distributors, manufacturers and other industry stakeholders from throughout the U.S. and hear about the critical issues facing the industry. Advocacy issues for 2024 include workforce shortages, the Main Street Tax Certainty Act and the American Innovation and R&D Competitiveness Act.

Roofing professionals are encouraged to participate and bring one or more standout crew members to help share the industry’s story. Registration for Roofing Day in D.C. 2024 is $95 for company representatives and $35 for field workers, students and spouses. Registration closes March 29.

For more information about Roofing Day in D.C. 2024, contact NRCA’s Washington, D.C., staff at (800) 338-5765 or visit nrca.net/roofingday.

About the National Roofing Contractors Association 

Since 1886, the National Roofing Contractors Association has been the home for generations of entrepreneurial craftsmen and enterprises who shelter and protect America’s families and businesses and each other. Our vision is the recognition of our members as professionals and to unite the industry to that purpose. NRCA is one of the construction industry’s most respected trade associations and the voice of roofing professionals and leading authority in the roofing industry for information, education, technology and advocacy. It represents all segments of the roofing industry, including contractors; manufacturers; distributors; architects; consultants; engineers; building owners; and city, state and government agencies. For information about NRCA and its services and offerings, visit nrca.net.

5 Ways AI Is Revolutionizing Roof Inspections

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BY RT3 MEMBER PHIL PRATT

Did you know that hail drives more property damage in the U.S. than just about anything else? In fact, wind and hail account for between 40-50 percent of homeowner’s insurance claims each year. That’s the bad news. Here’s the better news: artificial intelligence (AI) is enabling fast and accurate hail damage detection, speeding up claims and repairs.  

The days of manual inspections that required workers to climb on ladders and walk around on damaged roofs are fortunately fading into the rearview. Now, workers can use drones coupled with AI-powered systems in order to analyze imagery for rooftop hail damage. These inspections are not only faster, more accurate, and cost-effective, they are also much safer. Here are 5 advantages of using AI technology for roof inspections:

  1. Faster and more efficient inspections: With AI-powered systems, workers can inspect rooftops more quickly and efficiently than they could using traditional methods. AI can analyze a large number of images in a short amount of time and identify hail damage with high accuracy. This not only saves time but also reduces the costs associated with inspections.
  2. Consistency and accuracy: AI systems are designed to be consistent in their analysis. This allows the user to reduce the number of photographs to only the ones that have a high likelihood of hail strikes in the imagery. This speeds up the inspection process and makes the analyst’s job easier and faster.
  3. Remote inspections: With AI-powered systems, it is possible to perform inspections remotely. This means inspectors do not need to be on the roof to detect hail damage. Instead, drones or other aerial vehicles equipped with cameras can capture images of the roof, which can then be analyzed by an AI algorithm. This not only makes inspections safer but also reduces the need for physical access to the roof, and allows for third-party pilots to be utilized for the initial inspection.
  4. Predictive analytics: With enough data, AI algorithms can use historical data to predict the likelihood of future hail damage. This can help property owners and insurance companies proactively address potential issues before they become significant problems. By detecting hail damage early, repairs can be made quickly and at a lower cost.
  5. Cost-effective: AI-powered inspections are generally more cost effective than traditional inspections. With AI, the need for manual labor is significantly reduced, which can save money on labor costs. Additionally, AI-powered systems can detect hail damage that may not be visible to the naked eye, which can prevent more costly repairs down the road.

The benefits of using AI to analyze imagery to identify rooftop hail damage improves analyst workflows and creates a more efficient way to identify hail damage than traditional methods. As technology continues to evolve, it’s likely that AI-powered inspections will become even more prevalent in the roofing industry. The applications are endless, but AI still has a long way to go before it completely replaces human analysts.These tools do wonders for creating efficiencies for roofing and insurance companies looking to understand the full scope of hail damage on a rooftop. To learn more about Zeitviews AI solutions for roofing inspections, visit us at Zeitview.com/roofing 

RT3 members experience VR rooms and share future workforce tips at IRE 2022

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Members of the Roofing Technology Think Tank started the week of the 2022 International Roofing Expo by participating in a meetup where they learned about emerging technologies and how they will affect the roofing industry.

Tesla Solar Roofs

The group began its meetup on Monday, January 31 with several presentations. Ken Kelly, of Naples, Florida-based Kelly Roofing shared exciting updates related to Tesla Solar Roofs as his company nears their 100th installation.

Ken Kelly presents on his company’s experience installing Tesla Solar Roofs.

Automating Takeoffs

Following Ken’s presentation the topic moved on to the recent acquisition of Estimating Edge by Foundation Software. Adam Oaks, Estimating Edge CEO shared information about the acquisition and what it will mean for the advancement of technology within the roofing industry.

He then proceeded to give a demonstration of their newest program call Vector. The takeoff software automates the takeoff process, allowing users to spend more time on estimating and less on measuring, saving hours or even days.

Virtual Reality

Following the presentations, RT3 members were able to experience the power of virtual reality combined with photogrammetry to see how it has the ability to revolutionize the way we perform site inspections and even meet with our customers.

Thanks to RT# member John Kiesel of Division 7 Roofing and Imagine Technologies Group, members used Oculus VR headsets to enter virtual rooms that focused on different areas in the industry, including safety, sales and marketing and service.

For many members it was their first experience with the VR space and proved to be a fascinating adventure into what the possibilities for the future of roofing could be.

Future Workforce Panel

On the first day of the IRE, several RT3 members presented a panel titled Casting the Net for Your Future Workforce. In this session, RT3 contractor members shared how they are working with their schools, youth programs and communities to build a pipeline for the future roofing workforce. From multi-organizational apprenticeship programs to working with youth from schools who don’t want to pursue college to getting involved in the community and developing in-house training opportunities, these contractors shared what they are doing, how they got started and tips for success.

  • L-R, Charles Antis, Christee Holbrook, John Peck, Josey Parks, Karen Edwards

It was an exciting week for the RT3 members as they continue their mission to learn about new technologies and share that information with the rest of the industry.

RT3 member Joanne Rodriguez of Mycocycle named to 2021 Environment+Energy Leader 100 Honoree List

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The list includes CEOs, VPs, managers and engineers who are all making a difference.

Mycocycle, Inc., a leader in using mycoremediation to process toxins out of waste, announced that CEO Joanne Rodriguez has been named to the 2021 Environment+Energy Leader 100 Honoree List.

“It’s exciting to be included among such an elite group of changemakers who are committed to helping the environment,” stated Rodriguez. “Together, this group of honorees will have an impact on the future of how efficiently we use our resources through the development of innovative solutions that lead to a more sustainable environment for coming generations.”

In its fifth year, the annual Environment+Energy Leader 100 recognizes those environment and energy “doers” who break trail in creating new solutions, programs, platforms, best practices, and products to help their companies – or other companies – achieve greater success in commercial and industrial environment and energy management.

“The Honorees on the annual list show groundbreaking work and dedication to the field of sustainability and energy management,” says Paul Nastu, President of Environment+Energy Leader. “We’re thrilled to recognize this year’s Honorees and congratulate all who made the list.”

Nominations for the E+E 100 are made by Environment+Energy Leader readers and others that work in the industry, are vetted and then Environment+Energy Leader team and a select group of advisors from the industry make the final Honoree selections.

About Mycocycle

Mycocycle, Inc. was founded in October 2018. It is a woman-owned, early stage cleantech company using mycoremediation to process toxins out of waste. Mycocycle was the winner of the 2021 1871 Momentum Awards as an Industry Disrupter, recognized as a Finalist in FastCompany’s “2021 World Changing Ideas” Awards issue, recognized as a Forbes “Next1000” Entrepreneur, selected as a Top 100 Global Deeptech Pioneer by Hello Tomorrow, and a 2020 Innovation selection in the EPA’s Innovation and America Recycle’s Fair. Mycocycle has been named a 2021 Illinois Qualified New Business Venture under the Angel Investment Tax Credit Program. This program provides Illinois-based investors a state tax credit of 25 percent of their investment up to $2 million. For more information visit www.mycocycle.com.

About Environment+Energy Leader

For fifteen years, Environment+Energy Leader (www.environmentenergyleader.com) has provided news, best practices and research that has influenced environment, energy and sustainability conversations–and powered decision-making. We have a wide range of professional resources, including our website, newsletters, awards programs, webinars, reports, white papers and conferences to help you tackle environment and energy management challenges in order to reduce costs, increase efficiency and minimize resource waste. Environment+Energy Leader is published by Business Sector Media LLC.

RT3 Member Mycocycle Named a Finalist for 1871 Momentum Award as an Industry Disrupter

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The 1871 Momentum Awards is the celebration of tech innovation in Chicago.

Mycocycle, Inc., a leader in using mycoremediation to process toxins out of waste, was named a finalist for 1871’s Momentum Award in the Industry Disrupter category. The award is presented to a company that has developed or introduced an ingenious, non-traditional, and innovative product or service that has significantly disrupted the industry.

“Having participated in the LatinX+IHCC Incubator at 1871 as one of my very first organizational experiences as a startup, I am delighted to be in contention for this award,” said Joanne Rodriguez, Mycocycle founder and CEO. “It is an exciting time to have a growing company in Chicago and the Midwest. The startup ecosystem is supportive, passionate, and always serves as a source of inspiration for me. We look forward to participating in the 2021 Momentum Awards and can’t wait to celebrate with all of our fellow founders!”

“The finalists for this year’s Industry Disrupter Award are leading the path forward through ingenuity and determination, and we’re thrilled to include Mycocycle among this impressive group,” said 1871 CEO Betsy Ziegler. “Their innovative solutions are transforming old waste practices into eco-friendly market opportunities and building a necessary picture of a potential world without waste. We wish them the best of luck as voting begins.”

The 14th annual 1871 Momentum Awards celebrate tech innovation in Chicago, recognizing outstanding CEOs, rising stars and game-changing companies across seven different award categories. Award winners are chosen through a combination of scores from 1871 judges and public votes. Voting opens August 16 and runs through September 1. Winners will be announced on September 23 at a hybrid awards ceremony.

Place your vote for Mycocycle at https://app.reviewr.com/s1/showcase//Momentum-21.  

About Mycocycle

Mycocycle, Inc. was founded in October 2018. It is a woman-owned, early stage cleantech company using mycoremediation to process toxins out of waste. Mycocycle was recognized as a Finalist in FastCompany’s “2020 World Changing Ideas” Awards issue, a presenter for NREL’s 2020 Industry Growth Forum, a 2020 Innovation selection in the EPA’s Innovation and America Recycle’s Fair, and the winner of the Cleantech Open National 2020 Resiliency Challenge.  Mycocycle has been named a 2021 Illinois Qualified New Business Venture under the Angel Investment Tax Credit Program. This program provides Illinois-based investors a state tax credit of 25 percent of their investment up to $2 million. For more information visit www.mycocycle.com.

About 1871

1871 exists to inspire, equip, and support the early stage, growth stage, and corporate innovators that are building extraordinary businesses in their communities. We are the convenor of changemakers, bringing together the right resources, support, and connections that drive growth for businesses across the entire maturity curve, from idea to Fortune 50. Our community is rooted in Chicago with a reach that spans the globe, with over 1,500 members and an expansive network of mentors, corporate sponsors, university partners, VCs, alumni, and policymakers. Learn more at www.1871.com.  

RT3 Members Present on Data and AI at METALCON

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By Karen L. Edwards.

METALCON 2019 took place in Steel City – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and RT3 members were well represented at the show, exhibiting and speaking.  On the first day of the show, RT3 hosted a discussion on the importance of artificial intelligence and utilizing data for contractors.

Bill Wilkins of Pointivo spoke about AI and explained that there are a number of companies that offer AI-assisted approaches to roof evaluations.  His company has been working with another RT3 member to develop a system that will do just that. Bill explained asking a person to try to look at an image and identify drains, equipment, ponding water, areas of membrane splits, etc. can be a very time-consuming process.  Ai is a great opportunity to help augment a younger , more inexperienced work force in identifying rooftop conditions and problem areas.

AI can tell you what it thinks is on the roof and provide a confidence level in its identification. How you help is by looking at what it found and either confirming it or correcting it. Each time you provide confirmation or correction, it will learn from the information and keep getting better at what it does. Bill explained that they feel pretty confident that the tool they are introducing next year will be able to reduce the amount of time spent on evaluations by 80 percent through the use of drones and AI.

Key things for AI to be successful is quality data, quantity of data. Bill shared the example of teaching AI to recognize on AC unit on a roof. Because an AC unit is so large, it might only need to ‘see’ 100 images to be able to accurately identify the AC unit every time. Trying to identify hail damage will be harder, because it’s much smaller in size.  The more data, imagery and confirmations it receives, the smarter and faster it becomes.

Josey Parks of Cognitive Contractor shared how AI and data can be a powerful lead and  sales tool for roofing businesses. Josey explained that if you take the records for 1,000 customers and run them through an AI program it will learn from the data. It will recognize patterns of the first 70 percent (or 700 records). Then it will take the next 300 records and predict their behavior based on what it learned from the first 700 and provide them a score.  Contractors should understand the data that they have in their business and how they can structure it to understand what drives your business and your customers.

Josey explained how when he started in metal roofing, he would keep track on a paper of what neighborhoods he had knocked doors in, then he advanced to using a bike trail app to track the locations where he and his sales team had been. They have advanced today to sending emails and plotting on a map (like Google Earth) the locations of the people who opened the email. This allows the canvassers to have an optimized route to work from.

Taking it one step further with the advancement in technology, Josey explained that he is able to use AI to score and predict his leads to the point that it knows which salesperson is the best one to assign that lead to, based on past performance of the sales person.  It’s important to optimize your business and not waste time and resources assigning the wrong leads to the wrong salesperson.

If you missed their talk at METALCON, you can watch it on our Facebook page under Videos.  Be sure to sign up for the Smart Brief e-newsletter to get the latest roofing tech news in your inbox.