Garland’s development of an app that allows customers to virtually build a roof, helping them to see exactly how the roof will be constructed and what is included in the completed waterproofing system, garnered the company its first ever Cleveland Tech Award. Garland was honored for its Roof Builder app March 22 at an awards luncheon at The Ritz-Carlton in Cleveland. The app qualified in the implementers/user category for its ability to help improve processes, reduce costs or gain efficiencies.

The Roof Builder app is available exclusively to Garland sales representatives, who then work with customers to build a roof. The app is designed in a way to eliminate the possibility of a roof being built incorrectly. Options throughout the app are populated based on the users previous selections, meaning if the user selects the deck type as wood, the following options included are only those compatible with a wood deck. That methodology is applied throughout the entire selection process.

Once the roof is built, there are options to save the project within the app and also email the roof schematic to themselves or someone else. This allows customers to share the 3D rendering with other decision-makers in their organization to help illustrate the proposed composition of the roof.

Along with helping customers visualize how the roof will be built, the app has also provided them with a greater understanding of roof systems in general. Customers who have traditionally chosen to protect their roofs with single-ply roof systems have been convinced of the durability and protection multi-ply roofs provide once seeing it on the Roof Builder app.

“We are honored to have been recognized for our development of the Roof Builder app,” said Bruce Emrick, Garland’s director of technology. “We saw a need to help our customers better understand the composition of roofs and went to work to deliver a solution that does just that.”

Based on the success of the Roof Builder app, Garland’s IT team is working on a Garland Coatings Builder, which will focus on the various options customers have when it comes to restoring a roof.