Built for snow load
Steel gauge, bracing, and attachment are sized for your region's snow load. We coordinate with your structural engineer so the screen performs all winter.
RTU snow screens are steel roof equipment screens built to keep wind-driven snow and ice out of rooftop HVAC intakes while your packaged unit still gets air. A rooftop unit (RTU) is the big box HVAC you see on many commercial roofs. ClearView Screens fabricates custom mechanical rooftop screens, coordinates shop drawings with your engineer of record, and ships nationwide.
Wind-driven snow piles against intakes. Ice builds on frames and coils. Snow drift on a low-slope or flat roof can bury base rails. When snow packs into a condenser coil or blocks air intake screens, you get restricted airflow. The unit works harder. Coils can freeze or corrode. You may face coil damage, emergency service calls, and equipment downtime. Condenser coils and air intake paths are usually the first places that fail. Cold climate HVAC on the roof needs winter weather protection, not just a visual fence.
An RTU snow screen is a steel enclosure or panel system that wraps the equipment. It blocks wind-driven snow from diving into intakes but still allows the airflow your mechanical engineer requires. Snow stop louvers and louvered panels are common: they turn the wind aside, shed snow, and pass air in a controlled way. That is different from a light-duty air conditioner cottonwood screen or debris screen, which mainly blocks seeds and fluff. Those help with clogged coils from trees, but they are not sized for snow load, ice, or structural stress the way a true cold-climate screen is. The same idea applies when you need a condenser coil screen, chiller screens, or air filter screen at the roof line: the wall has to breathe and hold up.
We work in 26-gauge steel with powder coating for long weather life. Each roof equipment screen is custom fabrication for your unit layout, not a generic kit. We coordinate shop drawings with your engineer of record for snow load, snow drift, ice weight, and wind on parapets. Your authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) is the local building department or reviewer who signs off on the permit package. We align mechanical rooftop screen details with what they expect. Non-penetrating rooftop screen options are available when your roof assembly needs to limit new penetrations, but attachment still has to match structural notes for your climate.
Steel gauge, bracing, and attachment are sized for your region's snow load. We coordinate with your structural engineer so the screen performs all winter.
Snow stop louvers keep wind-driven snow out of air intakes while keeping your RTU breathing. No blocked coils. No frozen heat exchangers when the system is designed as a team.
Every screen is built to your equipment layout, parapet line, and local code. No field cutting. No gaps. No mismatched seams.
For material options, see our RTU screen materials compared guide. For city visibility rules that sit alongside structural work, see RTU screening requirements by city.
If winter weather protection and freeze protection matter for your facility, plan the screen early with your mechanical and structural team.
We support education and health-care sites with tight rules. Read RTU screens for schools and RTU screens for hospitals for how we work on those roofs.
Projects in New York City also need zoning-driven screening. For the December 2024 update to Sections 26-52 and 37-22, read our NYC rooftop screening rules guide.
A regular RTU screen is often there for visual screening and light weather. An RTU snow screen is engineered for structural load from snow, ice, and wind together. Gauge, bracing, attachments, and louver free area are part of one package so the wall does not fail or starve the unit.
Louvered panels are laid out to meet the open area your mechanical engineer needs. Your RTU cut sheets and airflow calcs still drive the final pattern. We build to those numbers so you get freeze protection without guessing at free area.
Your engineer of record owns the structural design for the building and attachments. We provide shop drawings and product-level detail so that engineer can tie our screen into their model and local criteria.
Sometimes. Non-penetrating rooftop screen systems must still resist overturning and sliding for your load case. Snow drift and ice can add serious weight. If your project needs non-penetrating attachment, bring it up early so structural and mechanical scopes stay aligned.
Send your roof plan, equipment schedule, and target dates. We quote from real scope, produce shop drawings for review, then fabricate, ship, and install with service access and doors where your O and M plan needs them.
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