Last month Heidi J. Ellsworth, owner of RoofersCoffeeShop™ and MetalCoffeeShop™, sat down with the “leading lady of metal,” Renee Ramey, executive director of the Metal Roofing Alliance (MRA), to talk about the growth of residential metal roofing and the driving factors of this growth.
In her six years at the helm of MRA, data collection has been a priority. Renee explained how they work with Dodge for their annual market surveys, “Every year on an annual basis, Dodge goes out and surveys homeowners specifically, or exclusively I should say, and the subset of their survey group comes back with answers to questions covering everything from, Did you actually install a roof, yes or no? What did you consider when you were going through that process? What material did you go with when installed? Was it metal? Was it something else? If it was metal, what type of system was it? What was the metal substrate? What was the paint system that you put on it? Or the coating? What was the profile that you selected?”
Since starting the annual data collection, the report has consistently been focused on trying to figure out what the penetration is into the residential arena, but also within the industry in order to give MRA members some data they can use to see where the trends are as far as the type of substrate or coating, the style of the metal roof, and more.
Renee is proud to report that as of their last annual market research study, metal roofing is up to 17% of the re-roof market in residential. That is a 14% growth from starting at 3% in 1998 and now reaching 17% of the re-roof market in 2021. MRA has found that metal roofing’s focus is primarily in the “re-roof market,” however they do also track some new construction.
Heidi went on to ask about the new “beautiful custom homes with those beautiful metal roofs.” Renee commented, “I am starting to see more and more of the custom home market go with metal, and that’s super exciting, and we are seeing that reflected in the market share for sure.”
When asked about her focus for 2023, Renee offered, “For 2023, sustainability and resiliency are big hot topics. And that excites me because I think we should be focusing on those. As homeowners, we should care about the products we’re buying, where they came from and where they go at the end of their life. And metal has a great story to tell within those new focuses or those focuses that are becoming more popular.”
The use of solar will continue to increase and when paired with a metal roof, it is a perfect choice. Renee says, “The metal roof outlasts, typically if you get a quality metal roof, it’s going to outlast the solar system you’re putting on it so you’re not having to pay to remove the solar system to re-roof and then have to put it back on.”
To illustrate this, she shared a recent story, “My heart broke. I recently spoke with a homeowner that had a solar system. I mean, they’re trying to do the right things. They’ve got a solar system on their home. It was over an asphalt roof. The roof was failing, and the amount of money he had to pay and the hassle the poor man had to go through to find a company to come and take the solar system off and then have to find an installer of the solar system to put it back on. And, he was dealing with warranty issues because it had to be removed.”
Having been the executive director of Metal Roofing Alliance for about six years now, Renee describe’s the organization’s mission to be the same since the beginning of MRA in 1998. She says, “We’ve changed very little in our mission, which is to educate and promote metal roofing to homeowners.” MRA considers their website to be their hub and total resource for homeowners as they’re going through a re-roof process, or help them when they are going through the process of needing a new roof.
MRA’s mission is education and promotion of quality roofing to homeowners. Renee stressed, “It’s not about just slapping on any metal roof, but a quality metal roof is what we’re about.” Given the significant increase in market share, she believes their message and campaigns are reaching homeowners.
In addition to working with metal roofing manufacturers, MRA offers contractors a comprehensive program consisting of a co-op marketing program they can utilize to take out to their local market to help educate homeowners. Contractors need a referral by a metal manufacturing company to join MRA’s program.
For anyone new to the metal roofing industry, MRA can help a roofer, contractor or manufacturing company get started with training materials and resources.
Click HERE to listen to the full interview between Heidi and Renee or click HERE to read the full transcript.
About MetalCast
MetalCast is now available through MetalCoffeeShop. Heidi J. Ellsworth hosts this insightful podcast on behalf of MetalCoffeeShop where she visits with amazing metal professionals about topics that are hot in the metal construction industry. Listen to learn about the issues and topics that matter to your metal business and to gain insights into new trends, products, solutions, technologies and more! Click HERE for their full library of previously aired podcasts.
Visit with both Metal Roofing Alliance and RoofersCoffeeShop at METALCON 2023 in Las Vegas. Look for MRA in Booth #7003 and RoofersCoffeeShop in Booth #1091. Registration and housing are both open.