Megan Billingsley

INFO 521

IPL Project Log

IPL2: QUESTION 1

Patron Question:

I need to find a tool or some type of a roofing calculator that can help me estimate prices and energy savings for various types of roofs. It does not have to be for a specific region.

Thank you, Alex

name: Alex

location: Providence, RI

area: Household/Do-It-Yourself

reason: I am doing a green building project and I need help with

roof energy efficiency and pricing for the project.

school: No

sources_consulted: http://www.improvenet.com/

Answer:

Greetings from the IPL2!

Thank you for your question on locating a roofing calculator and assessing energy-saving roofing options. This was an interesting and challenging question to research for you! I found some resources that may be of assistance in your project.

The first website I found useful was the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy page (EERE):

http://www.eere.energy.gov/

This site offers a keyword search option towards the top right of the page, and I used this to search the term “roofing” to get to the specific information on roofing options. This search retrieved many results, and I immediately saw several listings for “Building Energy Software Tools Directory: Cool Roof Calculator”. According to the site, “The Cool Roof Calculator will estimate both how much energy you'll save in the summer and how much extra energy you'll need in the winter.” I trust this site because it is managed by the DOE, a government supported website.

The second source you may find useful is the Energy Star Website:

http://www.energystar.gov/

On this site, if you click on Products, and then Find Products, and then Roof Products (under the category Building Products) you can find a wealth of information about Energy Star rated roofing products, where to find them, etc. In the “Overview” section, in the 3rd bullet point, there is a link where you can “see how much reflective roofing can reduce your building's energy costs” – if you click on this link it will take you to a 3rd party site where you can find a Roof Savings Calculator (either residential or commercial). This 3rd party site (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) is sponsored by the DOE and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), both very trustworthy sources.

Getting back to the Roof Products section on the Energy Star website, under the FAQs section you can find plenty of information on tax credits, energy savings, specific products, and more.

The Energy Star website itself is trustworthy as Energy Star is a joint program between the DOE and the EPA.

There is another website that I found useful, although access to some resources requires a membership to the organization. It is the website for the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA):

http://www.nrca.net/

On the left side of the page, in the “Related Sites” area, there is a link for “Energy Wise”. This takes you to a page with information on the EnergyWise Roof Calculator. This is an online based program, however there is a fee. For members of the association, the fee is $75. For non-members it is $95.

Back on the homepage of this site, if you click on the “Consumer” tab, scroll toward the bottom of the page and you will see a section called “Learn About Your Roof System.” The 2nd bullet point in this box reads “Roofing, Energy and the Environment Series” – this will take you to another page with more information on educational series that address different aspects of roofing efficiency. As with the information above, there is a fee to access the actual programs – Members $75, Non-Members $95.

This website does allow you to search for Roofing Contractors by State, and you may be able to find a local contractor that already has this information and may be willing to share. The NRCA is a professional organization within the roofing industry, so the information on this site can be trusted as relevant and current.

One final suggestion I have would be to check with your local home improvement stores. I see in the Providence area that there is a Home Depot in Providence and a Lowes in Cranston. These stores may have professionals who can offer expert advice or guidance on where to find more information related to roofing energy efficiency.

To find the first resource (EERE), I went to the IPL2 website and ran a keyword search for “energy efficiency”:

http://IPL.org/

The first listing was the website for EERE which proved to have a great deal of information on this topic.

To find the second resource (Energy Star), I performed a keyword search on Google for “Energy Star”:

http://www.google.com/

I was already aware of Energy Star as a valuable resource, but you could also have found this same website by doing a keyword search for “energy efficient products”. Energy Star is the second listing to come up with that search, and it’s the first “.gov” website on the list of results, which means it is a government sponsored website.

To find the third resource (NRCA), I thought it might be possible to find some resources within an industry-specific professional organization. To find such an organization, I performed a keyword search on Google (same URL as above) for “roofing associations.” The first listing that came up was the website for NRCA. While many of the usable resources on this site require a fee, I think you can use this site to find out more information about “going green” with roofing, and maybe connect with local contractors in your area to get more information as well.

I hope you find this information helpful, if you have any additional questions or if I did not provide enough information, please feel free to contact us again! Thank you for using the IPL2!

Feedback Received:

Hi Megan,

Congratulations on answering your first question! You did a

really nice job. Your search strategy and the sources you chose

were well thought out and well presented.

For the calculators you found, it would have been ok to also give

the actual link to the calculator to the patron, along with the

links to the sites you searched to find them.

I hope you enjoyed answering your first question. Keep up the

great work!

Cathy Ogur

Patron’s Follow Up Question:

Thank you Megan!

I am going to look at these resourecs. Did you find any resources on how to=

calculate roofing prices for a project by any chance?

Thank for your help,

Sincerely,

Alex

Follow Up Answer:

Hi Alex,

I did find a couple of links to online Roofing Calculators, however I would still recommend consulting a professional contractor prior to submitting any quotes or estimates for budgeting purposes. Prices may fluctuate according to the region you are in, as well.

Here are two links to online roofing calculators that you may find useful:

http://www.roofingcalculator.org/

This first link allows you to enter any specific information you have for the roofing project (size, slope, etc), and upon clicking the "Calculate Roof Project" button it will give you the prices for different roof materials. This is nice because you can compare the costs of different materials at a glance.

This second link offers a similar calculator, but you must choose the roofing material prior to calculating. So instead of seeing multiple materials at once, you can only view one at a time:

http://www.newenglandmetalroof.com/roofing-calculator.html

Both of the above links are sponsored by advertisers (Green Building Directory and New England Metal Roof, respectively). I attempted a few different inputs, and found that the prices vary slightly among the two websites. This is why I would recommend consulting a professional contractor to get an accurate cost estimate on your roofing project. These links will at least give you a head start.

To find these online roofing calculators, I performed a keyword search using the phrase "roofing calculator" on Google:

http://www.google.com/

The links I provided above were the first two results. I looked at several other online calculators, but these seemed to be the most relevant and the easiest to navigate. I especially like the first, which allows you to see multiple materials at one time.

I hope you find these calculators useful, if you need any further assistance please feel free to contact the IPL2!

Patron Response:

Hi,

Thank you so much, it is really helpful!

The first one also shows energy savings, which is something I needed as well.

Thank you,

Alex

Remarks:

I spent about 2 hours finding the initial answer, and another hour finding the follow-up answer. So a total of about 3 hours were spent on this initial question.

Being my first question with IPL, I had a very basic strategy with this question. I started with keyword searches in both IPL and Google. I tried phrases such as “energy efficiency,” “energy efficient roofing materials,” “energy star,” and “energy saving roofs.” I found that there were some common results from these searches, such as Energy Star and US Department of Energy. I explored these sites a bit until I found the most appropriate for this response.

While I was working on the response, I was keeping in mind that it would be difficult for me to provide costs, because I have no idea what contractors in the area would be charging. So in looking for a list of contractors, I stumbled across a professional organization dealing with roofing. I thought this could be an excellent resource for the patron, so I included this in the response.

All in all, I think this was a great question to start off with. It required me to use several resources, the patron offered follow up, and the IPL staff offered great feedback. I also learned to go back and re-read the question before submitting a response to ensure that I answered each element of the patron’s question. This helped me when answering more IPL questions.

IPL2: QUESTION 2

Patron Question:

Question:

Can you help me find a book in relation to the Texas Summer

Reading Program 2010?

name: Sandra

location: East Bernard, Texas

grade: parent

area: Literature

school: No

Request More Info:

Hello from the IPL2,

I may have misunderstood, but I believe you are asking about information on the 2010 Texas Reading Club.

If I misunderstood what you were asking, reply to this email and let me know. Also, please answer the following questions for me.

* Can you tell me what you mean by the Texas Summer Reading Program?

* Can you tell me more about the book you are looking for, if you are looking for a specific book? The more I know about it, the better I might be able to help you!

In your reply, please preserve the subject heading intact so that the message is sent to the proper spot at the IPL2. Thanks for your help!

Hopefully, the following information will answer your question.

I found the following website which offers information on the Texas Reading Club, which shows the theme for 2010 is "Catch the Reading Express."

http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/projects/trc/2010/index.html

To find this, I performed a basic Google keyword search for "Texas summer reading program 2010." You can access Google using the following link:

http://www.google.com/

You may also want to reach out to your local library to see if they have specific reading lists for the summer program. I found the following library website using the above Google address and searching for "library east bernard texas":

http://www.whartonco.lib.tx.us/newsite/eastbernardbranch.php

You may also use the following website to locate a library closer to you:

http://www.libdex.com/country.html

At this website you can search for the library closest to you and reach out to them about local summer reading programs.

If these websites do not have the information you are looking for, I would be happy to do further research if you can provide answers to the above questions. Thank you for contacting the IPL!

Patron Response to Request for More Info:

Patron response:

I'm sorry! Our theme is "Catch The Reading Express" books related to trains=

, planes, and automobiles.=A0 Anything with wheels, please!

=A0

Thank you!

Answer:

Thank you for your quick response! I understand that you are looking for books related to planes, trains, and/or automobiles to relate to your child’s summer reading program.

I have a couple websites that may point you in the right direction for finding some reading materials.

The first one is the online manual for the 2010 Texas Reading Club, which you can access here:

http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/ld/projects/trc/2010/manual/elementary.html

This link is quite long and could break, so here is a shortened

version for your convenience:

http://tinyurl.com/2ez6zpd

This link takes you directly to the Elementary program, which lists several age-appropriate books specifically chosen for this reading program. If your child is younger than this, you can use the navigation menu on the left side of the page to link to the Toddler and Preschool programs as well.

Also on the left side navigation is a link for “Bibliography” (under the Resources heading) which includes the complete listings for all books recommended with this reading program, for all ages. To locate any of the books on this website, you can search your local library online catalogs (see link below).