Industry Watch

• Mass. company to build world's largest rooftop urban farm
  Sky Vegetables Inc. plans to build the world's largest rooftop urban farm on a vacant building in Brockton, Mass. The one-acre hydroponics farm will capture rainwater for irrigation and is projected to produce 400 tons of food per year once completed. Sky Vegetables signed a 20-year lease for the roof of the building, which once served as a shoe warehouse. The Enterprise (Brockton, Mass.) (11/15)

• Structural eaves deserve remodeling caution
  Care needs to be taken when remodeling to convert eave storage to living space, writes columnist Henri DeMarne. Eaves may be closed off with knee walls that function as structural elements necessary to support the roof rafters, and they should not be removed in that case. However, knee walls can be removed safely if the roof is supported by free-span trusses. Daily Herald (Chicago) (11/14)

• Column: Questions surround future of workers' pay
  Wages and benefits for workers who have remained employed have declined during the past 18 months, writes Tom Petruno. It's unclear whether that downward pressure will continue, he writes. However, he notes that toolmaker Black & Decker recently announced that it will reverse pay cuts initiated in April. Meanwhile, 35% of companies that cut 401(k) matching funds plan to reinstate them in the next six months, according to a recent survey. Nevertheless, Petruno says that it is possible that wages could remain depressed because qualified people are willing to work for less money. Los Angeles Times (11/14)

Construction News & Trends

• New solar plant gets green roof
  Hemlock Superconductor's planned $1.2 billion manufacturing plant in Clarksville, Tenn., is to be a model of green construction, executives say. The plant, which makes components for solar panels, is to get roof-mounted solar arrays of its own, along with rain gardens to handle stormwater runoff. The Leaf-Chronicle (Clarksville, Tenn.) (11/13)

• Taxpayers pay to patch up school roof
  Residents of Plainfield, Conn., are to pay $250,000 to replace the local high school's 3-year-old roof, which began buckling last year due to construction errors. The town will continue to seek redress from the companies that originally installed the roof and could move ahead with legal action to recoup the cost of the repairs. Norwich Bulletin (Conn.) (11/15)

• Community center roof springs leak -- again
  Officials in Blanchester, Ohio, recently approved repairs to the roof of their municipal building and community center -- but now they say the roof has sprung a leak in two more places. The local Village Council will spend another $8,500 to patch up the additional leaks. Wilmington News Journal (Ohio) (11/13)

Market Growth

• U.S. hotel construction pipeline could be emptied in 2 years
  The U.S. hotel construction pipeline hit its lowest point in three years in the third quarter, with just 3,890 properties under construction or in the planning stages, according to Lodging Econometrics. Project cancellations, meanwhile, continue at an elevated pace, and with two years of declines coming up, the pipeline will in effect be emptied, said Patrick Ford, president of Lodging Econometrics. GlobeSt.com (11/12)

• Auction offers construction equipment at bargain prices
  The sharp decline in the construction market in Las Vegas has led to an oversupply of construction equipment. Many pieces were recently auctioned off by Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers at deeply discounted prices. A scraper, for example, was sold for $75,000, down from an estimated price of $200,000 a few years ago. Las Vegas Sun (11/15)

• Column: Housing market improves -- but will it last?
  The housing industry is on the road to recovery, writes Gene Walden, with new-home buyer tax credits boosting the sector's already healthy stock performance. Still, counters John Spence, the winter could bring bigger-than-usual dropoffs in construction activity, and it's unclear how much of a lasting impact the new tax credits will have. Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.) (11/14) , The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) (free registration) (11/15)

Government & Regulatory

• White House pushes for immigration reform in 2010
  The White House is pressing lawmakers to proceed with legislation that would reform the nation's immigration laws. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she believes a reform bill could pass next year. She noted that the nation has met border security goals and added that illegal immigration declined during the economic downturn. "The hope is that when we get into the first part of 2010, that we will see legislation begin to move," Napolitano said. The Washington Post (11/14) , Los Angeles Times (11/14)

Featured Content

Hot Topics

Top five news stories selected by NRCA SmartBrief readers in the past week.

• Contractor investigates fatal crane failure in Kansas City (Engineering News-Record)

• OSHA fines Connecticut contractor $308,500 (CCH)

• Green roof exam puts contractors through their paces (Daily Commercial News)

• Leasing rooftop panels brings solar energy to all income levels (The Arizona Republic (Phoenix))

• Minnesota fire caused by roof construction, police say (Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.))

• Results based on number of times each story was clicked by readers.

NRCA News

• NRCA and BuildSite® offer product center
  NRCA has partnered with BuildSite to offer the Roofing Industry Product Center, which allows users to search for detailed roofing product information and specifications, as well as create online submittals from more than 270 manufacturers offering 20,000 products. The product center provides a one-stop database that includes material safety data sheets (MSDS), installation details, testing reports, green data and more. Subscribers can use the integrated online software to create and archive product submittals, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design submittals and job-site MSDS. Learn more.

• NRCA offers safety manual
  The NRCA Safety Manual, Second Edition, contains updated and expanded explanations of regulations from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Transportation, as well as industry practices developed and compiled to improve worker safety at roofing job sites. It addresses all the proper safety practices and procedures for roofing work, including personal protective equipment, fall protection, hazard communication and fire safety. The member price for the manual is $125, and the retail price is $250. Purchase it here.

SmartQuote

Nothing is so contagious as enthusiasm." --Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet, critic and philosopher