The green credentials of roofing solutions specialist Sika Sarnafil’s single ply was just one of the reasons for its use in a recently completed urban regeneration project in Leeds.
Setting new standards in low-carbon living in the UK, the Greenhouse development in the Beeston area of the city involves the part-refurbishment and part-new-build of a redundant art-deco hostel to create 172 high-specification apartments plus office space.
This award-winning project pioneers sustainable technologies, and hence its roof features solar thermal panels to heat occupant’s water, wind turbines to generate electricity to power communal lights and lifts, and a waste and rainwater collection system that sees water filtered and used to flush toilets and supply washing machines. With the roof home to so many ancillary technologies, both flexibility and a strong environmental performance were required of the chosen roofing system.
In order to fulfill the developer’s low-carbon ambitions, largely local labour was chosen to carry out the work, with Beeston’s Protech Roofing contracted to specify and install the roof in light of its close proximity to the site. The company’s David McLean says that traditional felt roofing was originally considered, but that the sustainability of Sarnafil’s system – thanks to its BBA-certificated life expectancy in excess of 40 years – better suited the project.
“The client was keen to use single ply because of its A+ Green Guide rating and whole-life costs, so we recommended Sarnafil. It’s the ideal system due to the level of detailing involved,” David reveals. “There was some intricate work to do around the solar panels and wind turbines, but the flexibility of the Sarnafil lends itself to this type of work and we are experienced in fitting the product, having worked as a Sarnafil contractor since 2007. We also worked closely with the main and other contractors to successfully complete the job. We were pleased to be involved in such an important local regeneration project.”
In total 2,500sq m of Sarnafil’s G410-12EL membrane in Light Grey were fitted to the roof. The build up also benefits from increased levels of insulation to significantly improve the Greenhouse’s thermal performance. Dubbed ‘super insulation’ by the developers, this combination of Kingspan’s TR27 and TT47 insulation build ups helped the roof achieve an average U Value of 0.10. This, together with the external wall insulation comprising 130mm of Kingspan Kooltherm K5 External Wall Board, is expected to result in an approximate annual saving of £600 on resident’s energy bills.