Richmond Building Products, one of Ireland's leading roofing and accessories specialists, has developed an innovative package that together can help optimise attainment of the Government's Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities policy, improve lifetime costs and contribute towards the overall energy efficiency of the home.

Almost two thirds of homes in Ireland are over 10 years old, meaning a large percentage of them require remedial work to ensure they meet modern standards of structural soundness and warmth/energy efficiency.

The policy aims to enable, by 2013, every household to have available "an affordable dwelling of good quality, suited to its needs... and energy efficient".

One of the key factors is the roof- its soundness and weathertightness.

In older properties, warm air leakage through ceilings transfers moisture into the roof, and then out of the roof, creating potentially damaging condensation en-route, and adversely affecting the property's energy efficiency.

Figures from the UK's Building Research Establishment have shown that 50% of vapour transfer from the warm home to the cold loftspace occurs around the loft hatch cover, especially if the hatch is a conventional unsealed version.

Richmond Building Products' combination of Protect VP400 vapour permeable underlay, Rediroll ridge ventilation system and Glidevale high performance loft traps combine to ensure a dry, properly ventilated roofspace is achieved, particularly in re-roofing/ roof upgrade programmes, where the ceiling is unlikely to be 'well-sealed', thus helping enhance the overall energy efficiency of the home and lifetime costs.

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Protect VP400 is highly vapour permeable but entirely watertight. It is strong and lightweight for ease of handling and easy to cut yet is fully UV and heat resistant and tough and durable. Protect VP400 carries certification for unrestricted use with regard to wind uplift, even in Ireland’s extreme exposure conditions.

Its effective removal of moisture from the roofspace minimises risk of condensation which can cause costly remedial work in the long-term.

Glidevale Rediroll universal dry fix ventilated ridge and hip system’s all aluminium construction makes it rot proof and corrosion resistant, helping it overcome the durability and weathering problems associated with other fabric based roll ridge systems.

Its innovative design incorporates integral ventilation inlets to ensure adequate throughflow of air along the ridge and hip, yet resists penetration by driving rain. Rediroll is quicker to install than alternative ridge ventilation systems, eliminating issues of the quality of workmanship in using mortar, and can be fitted regardless of weather conditions whilst the work is undertaken. Rediroll provides a maintenance free solution, removing the need for future re-pointing or re-bedding of the ridge tiles, optimising effective use of budgets.

Glidevale loft traps not only meet the air leakage requirements of BS5250, but also the minimum U value requirements of Building Regulations of Part L: LA1, LA2, LA5 and LA6 loft traps, when specified with rigid insulation, all achieve a U value of 0.35W/m2K.

Frances O'Loughlin, Richmond Building Products Marketing Manager, said: "The Government policy is to enable, by 2013, every household to have available 'an affordable dwelling of good quality, suited to its needs'.

"It logically follows that existing homes will need upgrading to meet that vision. Our materials could help roofers win a share of that refurbishment/ upgrade business, providing a value-for-money lifetime solution to improving a home's insulation."

The entire range of Glidevale Protect membranes, all available exclusively through Richmond, is certified for unrestricted use with regard to wind uplift, even in the most extreme exposure conditions found in Ireland. The range further includes Protect Wunderlay impermeable (type HR) roofing underlay, Protect TF200 breather membrane for timber frame walls, Protect VC Foil highly reflective low emissivity control layer, and Protect TF200 Thermo which claims a 270% improvement in a timber frame wall’s thermal performance over standard vapour permeable membranes.

Full details of the Protect range are available on Richmond’s website www.richmondbp.com.