The Envirotile from Russell Roof Tiles has been designed to help meet the Government’s stringent Code for Sustainable Homes
The built environment contributes almost half of Britain’s carbon emissions each year, with over a quarter coming from our homes. With the intention of reducing emissions and helping create more sustainable homes the Government’s Code for Sustainable Homes was launched. This standard for the design and construction of new homes was introduced to help create a more green and pleasant land.
Top independent UK tile manufacturer Russell Roof Tiles are principal suppliers of roofing to the nation’s leading housebuilders and developers. Russell Roof tiles has expanded its portfolio of roofing solutions with specialist green options for UK housebuilders looking to meet the Government’s challenging Code. Now the multi-award-winning Russell Envirotile offers a serious viable option for Britain’s housebuilders.
Russell Envirotile was designed with a natural slate appearance and texture, so ensuring its look matches perfectly to traditional roof tiles. Slate type roofing still dominates the UK because of our historic access to locally quarried material. Not only does this new product have premier green credentials it also has the appearance, texture and colour of traditional roof slates to appeal to the discerning homebuyer.
Russell Envirotile was developed over a four-year period in association with Wolverhampton University and the Green Roof Tile Company. It’s a pioneering new green roofing product designed to meet the growing need for sustainable construction.
Russell Roof Tiles recognised a huge gap and very limited range of products that are truly green for those housebuilders looking for sustainable roofing. The challenge was to create a product that is aesthetically pleasing, cost effective, easy to lay and with maximum green credentials.
Russell Envirotile is the first fully sustainable interlocking roof tile: Manufactured from 79% re-processed polypropylene (mainly from car components, such as bumpers normally destined for landfill) it is also 100% recyclable at the end of its life. Every tonne of re-processed polypropylene used in its manufacture in place of virgin material creates an energy saving of 6,800KWh and a two tonne reduction in CO2 emissions.
The Code for Sustainable Homes measures the sustainability of a new home against categories of sustainable design, rating the ‘whole home’ as a complete package. The Code uses a 1 to 6 star rating system to communicate the overall sustainability performance of a new home. Offering unrivalled technical performance along with excellent eco-credentials, the BREEAM compliant Russell Envirotile tile achieves Code 6.
The precision design and manufacture fully utilises the latest in recycled material technology, which ensures every tile meets the highest standards. Not only does it have unrivalled green credentials, its light weight (just 720g) means it can be transported efficiently, thus reducing transport costs and carbon footprint as well. Each tile interlocks with the adjacent tiles in eight places thus the roof’s integrity acts as a whole so no individual tile can easily dislodge. The tile comes with a 25-year guarantee against lamination and decay.
Considering the needs of contractors and the requirement for efficient fitting, Russell Envirotile has been designed to be easy to install. It is up to 25% quicker to fit than traditional roofing and can be cut with a handsaw rather than a petrol saw, addressing the current HSE challenges in terms of cutting traditional tiles and also lessening its environmental impact on installation.
Also maximum usage has been considered further in that it is also a viable alternative to flat roofing with a proven minimum low pitch roof capability of 12.5 degrees.
Andrew Hayward, Managing Director of Russell Roof Tiles, says that meeting this ever growing need for sustainable construction materials is one of the biggest challenges to face the industry. He comments, “Choosing products with the right sustainability credentials can have a huge influence on the energy efficiency rating of a building. Creating and manufacturing products that meet these needs should be a priority for the sector, as demand is only going to increase. Green architecture does not only benefit the environment, investing in green materials also reduces energy costs for structures by using more efficient products.
“The launch of the Russell Envirotile is our response to this – it is the first fully sustainable interlocking roof tile that offers a serious response to the Code for Sustainable Homes. We have invested heavily in its development over the last four years and this is a significant step towards combining sustainability with performance for new homebuilders across the UK.”
For more information, visit www.russellrooftiles.com
