The COOLTILE is, as the name shows, a “cold” tile that despite its dark colour, is capable of reflecting most of the solar radiation it is exposed to – thus improving the energy efficiency of the building and mitigating the “urban heat Island” effect.
This innovative tile, which emerged from the European COOL-COVERINGS project, works within the NIR, or near infrared range (which represents close to 50% of solar radiation). When installed in a ventilated facade system with 60 mm. insulation, it reduces the temperature increase of the facade. This serves to decrease the heat flow into the building interior, directly resulting in energy savings of up to 30%.
The COOLTILE solution has been assessed and validated under actual conditions by the ITC (Instituto de Tecnología Cerámica, or Ceramic Technology Institute) with the support of the IVE (Instituto Valenciano de la Edificación, or Valencia Building Institute). The tile was installed on the experimental CIES building (Centro de Innovación y Eficiencia Energética, Centre for Energy Innovation and Efficiency) - a building that was made available by the Castellon City Council as a Living Lab, part of the BTA (Building Technologies Accelerator) programme and the European Climate-KIC platform.
Monitoring and analysis of this project (ventilated facade + COOL TILE), which went on for over one year, has produced its first results, showing that when rehabilitating buildings from the 70’s and 80’s, such installations can save up to 30% in air conditioning costs in residential use, and close to 20% with commercial buildings. These figures may vary according to the type of building, the orientation of the facade(s) and the specific weather conditions of each location.
Apart from the reduction in energy consumption - and the corresponding impact on the greenhouse effect – the tiles also offer such advantages as ease of installation and a dark tone, which is thoroughly in line with current aesthetic trends for facades.
COOLTILE tiles offer an ideal solution for renovated as well as new buildings, increasing energy efficiency while improving interior comfort – especially in geographic areas with a hot and sunny climate (latitudes between 40°N – 40°S).
About Climate KIC
Climate-KIC is the EU’s main initiative for confronting climate change. It is the largest public-private collaboration in Europe focused on mitigating climate change as well as adapting to it. It is one of the knowledge and innovation communities (KIC) created by the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT), an EU organisation in charge of creating sustainable growth mechanisms in Europe, along with confronting other great challenges of our time.
