LIFE Herotilde

Industrie Cotto Possagno

Founded 20 years ago, Industrie Cotto Possagno has become one of the leading manufacturers of terracota tiles in Italy. Our success owes much to the green roofing systems that we develop in-house and patent internationally. We engineer tiles that increase the energy performance of buildings to unprecedented standards.

Larger with Life

Between 2015-2019, the EU LIFE Programme is investing €1.4 million in the €2.5 million Herotile project to develop and test a new shape of tile that could reduce the need for air conditioning in buildings across the Mediterranean. In partnership with other companies and universities, Industrie Cotto Possagno has engineered a roofing tile that allows air to flow through its structure and ventilate buildings naturally.

EU added value

• Cutting Greenhouse gas emissions down 50%
• Utility bill savings for consumers
• Adapt EU cities to climate change

Prospects

• Tech-leadership in a global market
• Greener EU building standards
• Energy savings in the Mediterranean

Achievements

• Halved the average energy consumed for summer cooling in Mediterranean buildings
• Cut reliance on air conditioning units and their emission of climate-forcing fluorinated gases
• Completed construction of a pilot plant to produce commercial volumes of the tiles
• Manufactured 9 000 self-cooling tiles in 2017 and launched production of a second model
• Studied the cooling properties of the tiles

Policy support

• Reduce domestic heating demand in line with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
• Low-carbon residential sector as set out in the 2030 climate and energy policy framework
• Bring EU energy efficiency adoption closer to the 2020 target of the Energy Efficiency Directive