The roof

Have you ever been forced to clean your roof gutters? Isn’t that the most annoying job in the world? How about a roof without gutters?

We have designed the roof for ecokit as a crucial part of the house, the roof “hugs” most of the house, keeping it protected from water penetration, wind and weather. In extreme weather situations, the roofing material also protects against wind-borne projectiles.

Roofing is part of many interwoven systems within the building, providing waterproofing, rainwater collection, solar reflectivity and aesthetics. Most roofing systems perform these tasks equally well, but each differs in life span, cost, and level of thermal protection.

Choices for ecokit house
The north facing part of the roof on ecokit is obviously dedicated to a solar system. Rain water can be collected from the roof beneath the house and is stored to be re used within the building, for garden or grey water reuse.

Our material choice for roof: Tractile Roof System
Tractile is an australian company that invented an innovative system – a roof tile, PV solar system and hot water system in one. World’s first integrated solar roof tile solution generating both electricity and hot water from a single unit that combines photovoltaic solar cells with thermal hot water system in one integrated platform.

The tiles are made of modern, lightweight materials (composite). It is simple to install with a hook located on the underside of the tile designed to interlock with the roof battens. It has a long life span (Tractile recommends it up to 50 years), excellent waterproofing, roof insulation, safe rainwater collection, solar reflectivity and aesthetics.

Because of its integration, the RIPV-T system leads to substantial savings, replacing conventional building materials and is easy to install reducing installation costs. RIPV-T solution was created with the design of houses and commercial building in mind, and seamlessly joins with the standard, non solar tile.

BENEFITS OF RIPV-T:

• Clean Power with no greenhouse emissions
• Reduce your running cost & power bills
• Faster payback than traditional systems
• A more aesthetically pleasing building integrated alternative to side-by-side solar water heating and PV modules
• The product is easier and less expensive to install compared to side-by-side modules
• Excellent value for money compared to side-by-side PV and SWH modules
• Medium temperature water heating or cost effective water pre-heating
• Rated for BAL40
• Low/no maintenance required
• Very long lifespan – up to 50 years

Tractile participated as a case study in the Queensland Government’s Embedded Energy of Composites Project. The findings from this project show that Tractile,made from high-strength and light-weight composite materials, out-performed both concrete tiles and metal roof sheet roofing significantly in terms of embodied energy.

• MJ: Tractile is 8 times more sustainable than concrete and steel
• Kg of CO2: Tractile is 4.5 times more sustainable than concrete and steel
• Eco-Indicator Points: Tractile is 5 times more sustainable than concrete and steel

We will be offering the Tractile standard tile for those who are not planning on getting solar panels (or have their own system already) and the integrated PV/hot water tile for the top part of the roof, based on occupancy and the estimated energy usage.

If you would like to find out more about Tractile, please visit their website. We appreciate any comments, let us know your thoughts – either leave a comment on our blog or our FB page.