Eco Projects Roof Insulation: Eco Roofing

Date Published:

30/05/2008

Going Solar

Green roofs aren't just about plants. There's solar power too. Take the roof at the Horniman Museum in London. It effectively incorporates both greenery and the photovoltaic (solar) panels so often lauded as the ultimate in eco roofing. With green credentials as good as this, it's easy to see why roofing could help provide the solution to our current energy worries.

This is the largest installation of the latest solar technologies anywhere in the country. This particular roof features tiles that double up as solar panels, and they're designed to be incredibly simple to fit. At £360 per tile they're also very expensive although they will eventually pay for themselves in about 25 years time.

By 2016 the government wants all new houses to be net zero carbon. In layman's terms this means that any energy taken from the national grid has to be replaced by energy you've generated on site so that they cancel each other out. It's cheaper for the home owner, great for the environment but is it a pipe dream or a real possibility?

Enter the Lighthouse, the UK's first net zero carbon house. Though it may not look like it, this roof is about as green as it gets. The roof is angled at 40 degrees from horizontal due south. It's the most efficient angle and orientation to generate your electricity, so the house is completely self sufficient and off-grid. It generates enough electricity for all the consumables within the home.

That's just one of the elements that make this such a green house. The roof is designed with a wind catcher to cool and circulate the air. It harvests rainwater for the washing machine, flushing the loo and irrigating the garden. And then there are solar thermal pipes providing hot water for most of the year. Right now this is just about as green as a roof can get.

Historically underground pipes, gas mains, electricity cables have been the arteries that have given life to the house. Now the roof is finally coming of age. If the computer is the new brain of the home then the roof is set to become its heart.