Skip to main content
European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency
Project

LIFE HEROTILE

LIFE HEROTILE
LIFE HEROTILE

LIFE HEROTILE successfully developed innovative roof tiles that can passively remove heat, so reducing energy consumption for the cooling of buildings by up to 50%. The tiles were introduced into the market soon after the project ended. The project beneficiaries developed two new clay roof tile designs and demonstrated their improved performances in terms of energy consumption for summer cooling and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Specifically, the beneficiaries optimised the design of both Marseillaise and Portuguese roof tile types, and constructed test rigs and mock-ups of buildings for testing the roof tiles in controlled environment and semi-industrial scales. The tiles performed well in wind tunnel tests simulating rain and different wind conditions within the test rigs. An intensive monitoring campaign was conducted in the mock-up buildings, using a system with numerous sensors. The project team then conducted an analysis of the environmental benefits of the roof tiles. The main environmental benefits were a reduction of about 10-50% in energy consumption for house cooling during the summer due to improved passive ventilation of the roof envelope, depending on the type of roof, and a related reduction (10-50%) in GHG emissions and air pollution. Other benefits were reduced heating requirements in winter due to increased insulation (thicker air cushion) in the under-roof space, and reduced moisture in the above-roof space.

Considering the environmental benefits achieved, the project contributes to several EU policy areas, particularly the Clean Air Policy Package, Energy Efficiency Directive, and Energy Performance of Buildings Directive. The projects solutions can help achieve targets set for nearly zero-energy buildings, and for accelerating the cost-effective renovation of existing buildings with new provisions for smart technologies and technical building systems.