GAF Energy's Martin DeBono introduces the Timberline Solar Roof, a nailable solar shingle that installs with the roof itself, and explains why building solar into roofing cuts installation and customer acquisition costs.
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Martin DeBono: Every day we wake up and the solution to our energy woes there staring us in the face and you know. One day we will capitalize on it. More so than we're doing today.
00:00:18:06 - 00:00:47:22
Martin DeBono: Some of the largest contributors to the cost of solar today are customer acquisition and labor. However, when you can leverage a roofing business, you can minimize the cost of customer acquisition and labor and produce a superior product for the equivalent cost. So that's a business opportunity that allows us to capitalize on our inherent strategic advantages. On the more concerning side is it's hard to imagine a future where roofs are not generating electricity, right?
00:00:47:28 - 00:01:08:15
Martin DeBono: Harnessing that electricity will help solve our energy, will allow us to enjoy our life more richly. But if somebody else were to develop a material, generate electricity, well, then our core business and roofing could be substantially devalued. And so rather than let somebody else come and eat our lunch, we decided to eat our own lunch. And thus we created GAF energy.
00:01:08:15 - 00:01:37:27
Martin DeBono: And the output of GF energy is the Timberline Solar Roof. It's really simple. It's a malleable solar shingle. Instead of getting a regular shingle, you get a solar shingle and it matches with the regular shingles because you don't need to put solar over the entire roof. It goes on with just a nail gun. It looks great, and it allows homeowners to more easily benefit from the clean energy, from the sunlight that's bombarding the roof every single day.
00:01:37:29 - 00:01:55:09
Martin DeBono: Because it goes on with just a nail gun, it's much less too much cheaper to install because it goes on at the time you get a new roof. The sales and marketing costs are much lower, and so you get a really superior product with Timberline Solar than you would with a traditional roof and traditional solar. The solar, the solar is the roof.
00:01:55:09 - 00:02:14:28
Martin DeBono: There is no shingle underneath it. It is. It's fantastic. So whether you have roofing felt or use something more advanced depending on your climate like appeal and stick, then you end up with a fantastic roof and the same amount of time puts on a regular. But this one happens to generate electricity.
00:02:15:00 - 00:02:34:24
Martin DeBono: Solar roof allows you to accomplish the primary function of a roof, i.e. keep water and snow and ice out of your home without compromising the integrity of the roof like the traditional system does. Second thing benefit is it generates electricity. So over the warranted life of this product not only can enjoy a beautiful roof, but it will pay for itself.
00:02:35:00 - 00:02:50:19
Martin DeBono: So with the amount of electricity that you generate, the savings on your electric bill will be. Of course it's going to pay for the solar part, but it'll actually pay for more than the solar part. And depending upon your location and how much actually of the solar system that you put on, you can end up effectively paying for your roof with this solar roof.
00:02:50:20 - 00:03:14:06
Martin DeBono: So from economic perspective, it makes sense. And finally, it looks awesome. Timberline Solar Shingle, built by Roofing company, recognizes that roofs are not shiny, roofs not made of glass. Roofs are very heterogeneous in their appearance, and that's necessary because of the various functions they serve. And so by embracing that, the Timberline Solar Roof looks awesome. So remember, we're a roofing company.
00:03:14:08 - 00:03:41:11
Martin DeBono: We sell through roofers. So anywhere you can put a shingle on a roof, you can put Timberline solar also has the benefit in many places older homes, you have to reinforce the rafters in order to support solar. Not the case. Anywhere you can put shingle on a roof, you can put a Timberline solar shingle. So it's it's a roofing first because we recognize all the saving some electricity won't will pale in the comparison to the damage that could be done if your roof leaks.
00:03:41:13 - 00:03:57:27
Martin DeBono: And our warranty that we have is unlike anything I've seen in the solar industry, where we look over five year periods. And if over five years you didn't get the electricity, we said you'd get it when you purchased it. We'll write you a chat. And so this really takes the anxiety out from the homeowner, because there's a lot of savings shown on these pieces of paper.
00:03:57:27 - 00:04:08:28
Martin DeBono: When people buy solar, I can't think of another company that has a warranty like ours where, hey, you don't get what, you don't get what you expect, we'll make it up to you.
00:04:09:00 - 00:04:29:06
Martin DeBono: We launched our product, the Consumer Electronics Show, and so on and on. The last time a building product was launched, the consumer show and the press reception. And this is like the consumer press, This is the Solar Press was off the charts from publications like Good Housekeeping. Right on the really practical. We want to best stuff from them to the more technical.
00:04:29:08 - 00:04:54:01
Martin DeBono: We were the best of show for smart homes for the Consumer Electronics Show, which is remarkable to everything in between. So the immediate media reception was fantastic. Next step you think about what were the roofers? The roofers. The first time we showed roofers both the products, they could handle it and they could see it. We invited them to a home where we installed Timberline Solar, and we had them look down and we videoed them as the first time I saw it and jaw dropping, literally jaw dropping.
00:04:54:01 - 00:05:14:22
Martin DeBono: And then you hand the shingle to them and the response is, it's a shingle. So the roofers are really happy. And then I think that what also helped with the reception is when we launched the product publicly, we had already passed all of the specifications required. We actually in fact, when we launched the product, we already had installations that passed inspection.
00:05:14:24 - 00:05:40:12
Martin DeBono: So that really instilled confidence in the roofers. That's been it's really pleased. We're really pleased with the reception that we've received. And it's it's fantastic because we need to embrace renewables. There's there's a host of reasons to do so. And this product makes it better for consumers, better for roofers and better for the environment.
00:05:40:14 - 00:06:05:04
Martin DeBono: So our sister company has invested, announcing since over $150 million in the recyclability of the asphalt roof. So when asphalt roof is torn off, we recycle those shingles and the asphalt is reused. That's the first part. The second part is, is the reason asphalt is used in roofs and of itself is a waste product. Asphalt is the byproduct of all the refinement of gasoline.
00:06:05:04 - 00:06:22:04
Martin DeBono: And so you start with a product that is effectively reusing a waste product. And then GF has invested, as I mentioned, $150 million in the recycling of shingles so that they continue to be reused. And so I think we have a target of like 15% of our shingles will use recycled shingles in a very in the very near future.