The role of collaboration in developing high-performing snow retention systems

By Jenny Yu.  

TRA Snow and Sun leaders discuss product design and the push for industry standards. 

In this MetalTalk™, Karen Edwards spoke with TRA Snow and Sun’s Business Development Manager Mindy Dahlquist and Technical Director Lane Gardner about how collaboration and testing are shaping the future of snow retention systems.  

For Mindy, field feedback is central to product development. “When receiving feedback, we ask, ‘What can we do better? How can we make the contractor's life easier? How can we make installation faster so they’re saving money on labor costs?’” Mindy shared. “The best thing is the open dialogue we have with manufacturers, architects and contractors. It’s the best type of situation we could ask for.” 

Lane agreed, explaining that early collaboration with manufacturers allows TRA to move quickly from concept to finished product. “The advantage in partnering early with manufacturers is that we can do early prototypes, modify them and create something quickly. We can do all those tweaks, the custom machining, the design,” Lane described, noting the gratification that comes with creating something from paper napkin drawings to real life. “It feels so good to have that go from a sketch through all those iterations, hold it in your hand, give it to the customer and receive positive feedback from them.” 

Beyond product design, Mindy and Lane addressed the exciting opportunity to create standardized codes for snow retention. “Industry-wide, there's not a set standard or code,” Lane explained. “We are part of a group that is working to develop some standards for testing snow retention systems. It’s really neat to have that opportunity on that ground floor level. We’ve been in the industry for multiple decades and working through that.” 

The lack of codes and standards relating to snow retention currently allows manufacturers to make systems however they want, with no requirements. This allows installers to install wherever and however while the liability of incidents push back to those involved with the build, including architects, owners, roofing contractors, etc. It’s important to protect yourself and your company while dealing with inadequate systems, such as plastic snow brackets.  

Read the first article in this series, Listen to the podcast or Watch the recording to learn more about how TRA Snow and Sun continues to prioritize collaboration, testing and proactive design.