Building Overview
- The Atlantic City Convention Center is the largest conference center in New Jersey. The meeting venue hosts conventions, trade shows, and conferences in and around the Atlantic City area.
The Challenge
- The Atlantic City Convention Center decided to house a solar array system, which would make it the largest single roof-mounted, grid-connected solar system in the United States. Most solar installations require that the existing roof be torn off, but the dynamics of the roof and lightweight concrete deck would not allow that (plus, that would have put the project over budget). The existing roof was a 12-year-old, granular-surfaced modified bitumen from GAF, but putting a 20-year solar roof on top would cause the existing bitumen roof to be replaced during its lifetime.
Solution
- Thomas Company Inc., was selected to install the new roof, a GAF EverGuard® Freedom™ TPO self-adhered system. First, the existing roof surface was power washed, then a ⅜" gypsum cover board was installed with OlyBond500® Insulation Adhesive. OlyBond500® is a low-rise polyurethane foam and meets the state’s VOC requirements. GAF supplied the Drill-Tec™ Locking Impact Nails to enhance wind resistance around the edge of the roof. Once the TPO membrane was laid over the cover board, 13,500 solar panels covering nearly 85% of the roof were installed. GAF provided the custom-made TPO flashings for the several thousand penetrations on the roof .
Key Facts
- The 2.37-megawatt solar system will produce up to 26% of the center’s annual electricity requirements, according to ACCVA.
