The Whole Foods Kahala Mall re-roofing project required the complete tear-off of the existing membrane and installation of an 80 mil EnergySmart Sarnafil fully adhered single-ply membrane. The total square footage of this project was about 200 squares.

This project had several factors that made it challenging including a large amount of rooftop equipment and penetrations that had to be worked around, other trades that had to be coordinated in tandem with the roofing work, night-work, very small spaces to work in, and live mall activity on-going at all times.

The roofing project had to be coordinated in tandem with the abatement company, electricians, HVAC and carpenters who all had sequential tasks to complete before the roofing could be installed and in a timely manner to keep the work progressing. During abatement, a lot of the metal roof decking was rotted and old vents and equipment had to be removed and replaced with new decking. Wherever the roof was exposed, plastic was installed inside the store as a proactive measure to catch any little debris that may come down during abatement. A new wall had to be installed up against the windows under the eaves.

Due to the sequence of abatement, prep and installation required per roof section, a lot of night-work was scheduled for our crew in order to ensure the roof was watertight before the end of the day.

Weather in this area was a little unpredictable as well, so coverings were set in place to allow the work to continue without affecting the store as well.

What made this project unique were the logistics and details. The roof area being re-roofed was 60% covered in mechanical equipment. Our crews had a small window daily to load and unload in the areas designated. Loading and unloading of all materials also had to be completed between 4am – 6am to not impede with mall operations. In order to efficiently transport materials across the roof sections, ramps were built in order to expedite the movement to and from staging areas. Working around all the existing rooftop equipment was the challenge. With all the roof details, flashing, pipe penetrations and conduits there were a couple hundred different penetrations that made this project tedious.

Lastly, a large portion of the roof area to be replace was located under an overhanging eve that ranged from 2 feet – 3 feet high depending on the insulation and slope installed. Working in this restrictive space and ensuring the details were on point was a challenge.

This Sarnafil roofing system brought the roof up to compliance with the current Hawaii Energy Code.