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Natural Slate ANCIENT SLATE: A MATERIAL FOR THE FUTURE Ged Ferris, Category Manager at SIG UK, sees a buoyant future for that most ancient building material – natural slate. Natural slate is a metamorphic rock formed from layers of clays or volcanic ash, transformed over millenia by heat and pressure. It’s first confirmed use as a roofing material dates back to the Roman era. Now this most ancient material is set for a major revival as it is a perfect fit for an industry that is rapidly adopting more sustainable building practices. In just about every sector from food to fashion we are waking up to an understanding that the most sustainable products are likely to be those that take the least processing. In the building sector, the immediate challenge is to move the whole construction process towards net zero – reducing the embodied carbon of building materials as much as possible. Slate takes very little energy to produce. It’s a mined product and the majority of its carbon footprint comes from its transport, rather than its production. The Inventory of Carbon and Energy, an independent database at the University of Bath, has compared natural slate with other tiling options and concluded that while there is a large variation in the embodied carbon of natural roofing slates, it will be approximately 16% that of other roofing materials. Many of the major housebuilders have stated their intention to be zero carbon by 2050 and are already putting pressure on their supply chains to make a positive contribution. While energy intensive product manufacturers work on reducing the impact of their processes, slate already ticks this particular box. Equally significant is a growing focus on the Above: Summer Lake Development, The Cotswolds – credit Fosse Specialist Roofing. Left: Windsor Court Care Home in Malvern – credit Lawrence Baker. Both images feature SIGA Slate. principle of circularity in construction. Advocates point out that natural resources are finite and that single-use materials are simply not sustainable. In the most extreme model, buildings are viewed as active warehouses for products. When the building has had its time, the products are dismantled and used to create the next structure. It's a vision for the future and we are a way off yet, but natural slate turns out to be ahead of its time. The material itself has excellent resistance to weather, with the best quality slates lasting hundreds of years. When a slate roof needs replacing it is often the fixings or felt that are causing the problem. Slates can easily be reclaimed and used again. There is already a market for reclaimed slates and some commentators estimate that as much as 5% of roofing slate in use today may have come from another roof. And finally, there is the combination with solar technology. As we move towards the extreme “When a slate roof needs replacing it is often the fixings or felt that are causing the problem” energy efficiency requirements of the Future Homes Standard, new homes will effectively need to include renewable technology to meet the emissions performance targets. Solar PV panels will undoubtedly be a big part of the mix and integrating the panels into a roof finished with dark grey tiles provides a consistent appearance. For all these reasons, we are expecting to see sales of natural slate performing strongly. SIG Roofing has a number of options with our various ranges of natural slate coming from quarries in the UK, Spain, Canada and Brazil. Contact SIG Roofing www.sigroofing.co.uk @SIGRoofing 16 TC JUNE <strong>2022</strong>
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June 2022

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