A new ASTM International test method will support the growing use of roofing membranes that contain ketone ethylene ester (KEE) polymer blends that are more flexible, chemical resistant and thus less susceptible to some types of damage.

In the early 2000s, members of ASTM International’s committee on roofing and waterproofing (D08) developed a specification (D6754)  that required the polymer content (by weight) of a new kind of roof membrane to be at least 50 percent KEE.

The new standard (D8154) – a test method – provides consultants, building owners, specifiers, and others with a way to test KEE roofing membranes to see what percentage of the polymer content is, in fact, KEE, and not polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

According to ASTM International member Jerry Beall, of Seaman Corporation, the new test method uses a process called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to accurately determine KEE content in these roofing fabrics.

Interested parties are invited to participate in the future development of the new standard, which will include research for reproducibility among a series of laboratories.

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