Lightweight roof systems pioneer Decra is furthering its reputation for innovation with the launch of a steel tile that will not fuel the global warming debate – one that helps to reflect heat from the sun.

A new coating on the company’s Elegance tiles helps to prevent the sun’s infra-red rays from being absorbed, reducing CO2 emissions and energy bills by lessening the need for cooling or air conditioning in warmer months.

It also helps to make the space below the roof a more pleasant working or living environment, supporting research from the French Institute of Public Health Surveillance which showed such measures would help reduce mortality among the elderly during the heat waves that are becoming more common due to global warming.

Researchers investigated the causes of thousands of excess deaths during a severe heat wave that hit France in August 2003. They found 35% of the sample died of heat-related factors and identified a lack of thermal building insulation was a main risk factor associated with that.

In their report, published in the European Journal of Public Health*, the researchers said: "Housing characteristics associated with death were lack of thermal insulation and sleeping on the top floor, right under the roof.”

Decra believes that even in the UK, which has a relatively temperate climate, architects and specifiers, as well as contractors on refurbishment projects, should consider this when designing new buildings.

In the meantime, the environmentally-friendly, non-toxic coating on the cool roof tiles, which inhibits the growth of moss or algae, also enables rainwater to be harvested, making the Decra Elegance tile a strong contender for the roof of the zero-carbon house of the future.

As well as the new cool roof technology, the Decra Elegance tile is less than one-eighth the weight of traditional clay or concrete tiles and can be easily marked out, cut and bent into shape by contractors. Its super-flexible powder coating does not stress fracture (white marks) when bent, or flake or separate from cut edges.

Available in Terracotta, Mocha and Black as well as bespoke colours to order, Decra’s new cool tile is set to raise roofing standards again, 30 years after the company first launched lightweight steel roof tiles to the UK.

Email: tracy@tlcpr.co.uk