Rooflights – ‘Every little Helps’ In The Sustainable Solution

With the Government legislating for the UK to become net zero carbon by 2050, every gram that can be saved is going to count.

Hambleside Danelaw’s Zenon brand of GRP rooflights is uniquely able to support construction’s contribution, through a raft of sustainable features & benefits.

They are the only brand of GRP in-plane rooflight to have attained Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) from the Building Research Establishment (BRE), which means they can tangibly contribute towards a building’s BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Energy Assessment Method) rating.

As a result, Zenon GRP in-plane rooflights contribute a minimum 1.5 points towards BREEAM when used as part of a metal roof system in the Materials category. They can further help in the Energy and Health & Wellbeing categories ENE01 and HEA1.

Beyond BREEAM, rooflights reduce the need for supplementary artificial lighting, and heating. A building with 10% rooflights can require supplementary electric lighting for 30% more hours in a working year than a building with 15% rooflights. It is not just electrical consumption impacted by using Zenon rooflights. Typically a rooflight can achieve 1.3W/m²K or better, saving heat energy. Indicative data for various rooflight permutations can be viewed on the Zenon website using the configurator tool, facilitating an understanding of the specification options.

Zenon GRP rooflights do not emit any chemicals once installed, so are safe to use with grey water systems, and in green roof schemes. At the end of their life they can be broken down into constituent parts and turned into Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF).

Zenon Evolution GRP in particular uses pioneering technology to employ less resin in the manufacturing process, resulting in a lighter weight, high strength sheet with good light transmission.  The use of Zenon Evolution as the weather facing sheet creates a rooflight that is up to 40% lower in embodied carbon than conventionally reinforced alternatives offering equivalent strength.

Additionally, the use of Hambleside Danelaw’s pioneering and patented cellulose acetate Insulator core will offer improved U values compared to traditional multi-layered systems, and lower embodied carbon in a material that is biodegradable at the end of its life.

So in the battle to find sustainable strategies, look up to the roof, and make the most of the ‘holes’ in it.

Full details of Hambleside Danelaw’s rooflight sustainable solutions can be found here