A good roof means living comfort
Good roof, good life
Did you know that a modern and well-equipped roof can contribute tremendously to your living comfort? And not just that: While you are enjoying a healthy and comfortable living situation, you are saving costs and environmental resources at the same time. At Braas Monier we offer various roof systems or individual accessories in order to make this possible.
Insulation
Wrapping up your home
Our wish for a sustainable living as well as rising energy costs and national energy savings legislations have changed our way of living and building our homes. The roof is the part of your house with the greatest energy saving potential. Hence it makes sense to start the insulation work there. Roof insulation is therefore an important factor in the planning of a new building or renovation works. It helps determining how energy-efficient the building will be over the coming decades – both with regard to ongoing running costs and the preservation of the value of the property in the long-term. Braas Monier offers various great insulation solutions which are all part of our Roof Accessories collection.
Solar
Power generation and heating water with your roof
Braas Monier PV modules and solar thermal collectors are installed on the roof and either generate electricity (PV modules), or heat up a transition fluid (solarthermal collectors) with sun energy. Most of our solar systems are so called "inroof systems", which integrate perfectly into the roof structure and do not compromise the beauty of the roof. Solar thermal collectors heat up water storages, to keep bathroom and kitchen water supplies hot in times when the energy of the sun is not readily available. And if sunshine is in short supply over longer periods the systems can be easily connected to all types of heating systems to ensure homeowners have hot water and can continue using their space heating. Photovoltaic systems allow to generate your own electricity and help you to get more and more independent from energy providers. The benefits are obvious: minimum energy consumption, maximum use of renewable energies (sunlight), minimum impact on the environment as well as your budget.
Ventilation
House ventilation: Fresh air for your indoors
If proper ventilation is lacking in your home, CO2 limits are quickly reached. Little or even no ventilation leads to high air moisture in the interior which is absorbed by the masonry and often causes mold to grow. This is not just unhealthy for people living in such rooms, but also expensive: Additional heating is needed due to more window ventilation. There are ventilation systems which simply eliminate such effects. They are designed to exchange all the air in a house within two hours. Filters clean the fresh air coming in from external wall outlets, eliminating dust particles, pollen and allergens. Mold, odours and air pollution are reduced or even avoided. Such systems improves the living atmosphere through steady air ventilation – an especially important benefit for people with allergies. Due to a controlled and optimised air renewal, energy consumption can be reduced significantly. Braas Monier offers ventilation systems like AERA via its company Schiedel.
Roof ventilation: Makes the whole house a comfortable living area
One person produces about 3 to 4 litres of water vapour a day by using household appliances such as dishwashers and tumble dryers or by cooking and showering. The greater number of central heating systems also affects indoor climate and adds to the development of water vapour. The vapour rises to the top of the building, and condensation forms in the roof construction. While in the past an unconverted attic served as natural ventilation, most buildings now lack this feature due to the fact that nowadays people make more use of potential living space than ever before. Ventilation of the roof construction has to make up for it. In order to divert the condensation moisture away from the roof construction, it is important to set up a ventilation level that removes the moisture through the air flow. If the roof is well ventilated, the air circulates from the eave via the underlay to the roof ridge. Braas Monier offers particularly high-quality roofing accessories that not only protect the roof construction from humidity from outside, they also provide optimum ventilation and conduction of moisture. This way, the roof construction can dry out and mould and rotting are prevented. In warmer areas the ventilation allows for hot air circulation, thereby the heat transition into the building is reduced.
Energy-saving chimney system
To save money and to protect the environment, households should take advantage of every opportunity to save energy. Schiedel, a subsidiary of Braas Monier, developed a chimney system - called ABSOLUT - which may help the home-owner reduce energy costs by up to ten per cent and cut CO2 emissions by as much as 12 per cent. Two block stones with thermal separation for where the chimney passes through the ceiling of the cellar and the roof of the house effectively prevent heat from escaping along the flue, and a specially developed roof seal also helps to save energy. The thermo-airdraft is another innovation which helps to save energy. Similar to a heat exchanger, it uses the heat of the exhaust gases produced – which would otherwise be wasted – to pre-heat the inflowing air needed for combustion in the stove. Schiedel’s ABSOLUT is the world’s first chimney system suitable for passive houses (very low energy-consuming houses). It is also suitable for all of today’s latest solid fuel heating systems and has received W3G approval. The thermo intake system provides burners with an inflow of pre-heated air which is not drawn from inside the building. Ventilation systems, extractor hoods and tumble dryers are not affected – all of which makes for an even more relaxing living environment.
The CoolRoof Initiative
Reduces energy costs and protects the environment
In some areas with very hot climate local building traditions and roofing materials mean the indoor temperatures of houses become almost unbearable during the day. The effect is obvious – hot living spaces mean huge energy costs in order to cool down the interior.
The Braas Monier CoolRoof technique provides a great solution: It optimises the roof’s thermal performance by using a combination of heat reflection, ventilation and insulation products, it minimises the solar gain of the roof and reduces the heat transmitted into the attic and living space.
The CoolRoof technology consists of a batten and counter batten roof structure. It is complemented with a heat reflecting underlay - a so called radiant barrier. Ventilation products for eaves, ridge, hip and batten space ventilation, i.e. Metalroll, Compactroll and eave filler comb, are applied. Together with reflective tile surfaces, the system is able to create a natural ventilation stream removing the hot air trapped under the roof. The result is a cooler home at lower costs. |
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lifeHEROTILE
In Mediterranean regions the solar radiation in summer causes an overheat of buildings, whereas the roof is the element which is exposed to the sun the most. Much energy is needed for air-conditioning in order to balance this effect. Braas Monier is one of six partners who joined in together to work on the lifeHEROTILE project, which is supported by the European Commission. The objective of this project is to find new energy saving solutions. The lifeHEROTILE project dedicates itself to develop new roof tiles with a higher air permeability and thus a better energy performance. Some measures of the projects are pilot plants to produce these tiles and real scale test buildings placed in different Mediterranean countries.