PERFORMANCE THAT PAYS SUSTAINABILITY THAT'S SMART
Knowing what sustainability means when it comes to consumer products can sometimes be an easy task, understanding what attributes to be aware of when looking for a sustainable commercial roofing system can be a confusing task.
Sika Sarnafil continues to build on its proud legacy of delivering time-proven, earth-friendly, energy-saving roofing and waterproofing systems that align sustainable practices with long-lasting performance. The icons below represent important areas to consider when choosing your next roof. Click on the icon below to be taken directly to that section to learn more.
SUSTAINABILITY CERTIFICATION FOR SINGLE PLY ROOFING
When you choose a Sarnafil membrane, you’re not only protecting your building, you’re protecting the earth.
Sarnafil has led the industry in developing roofing and waterproofing systems that meet the key sustainability goals of energy efficiency, environmentally preferable products, greenhouse gas reduction, and waste reduction, including the industry-wide PVC Roof Membrane Recycling Program.
SARNAFIL MEMBRANES WERE THE FIRST TO RECEIVE A PLATINUM RATING.
Sika Sarnafil single ply S327 and G410 roofing membranes earned the highest possible certification to NSF/ANSI 347.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Sika Sarnafil’s EnergySmart Roof features a White, Tan, Reflective Gray or Patina Green reflective surface. These surfaces have been proven to reduce the amount of energy required to maintain comfort in an air-conditioned building by decreasing heat flow through the building envelope. “Cool roofing systems” like the EnergySmart Roof can save money, improve occupant comfort, increase a roof’s longevity, and reliably protect a building and its contents.
GREENHOUSE GAS REDUCTION
When you choose a Sarnafil membrane, you’re not only protecting your building, you’re protecting the earth.
Sarnafil has led the industry in developing roofing and waterproofing systems that meet the key sustainability goals of energy efficiency, environmentally preferable products, greenhouse gas reduction, and waste reduction, including the industry-wide PVC Roof Membrane Recycling Program.
SARNAFIL MEMBRANES WERE THE FIRST TO RECEIVE A PLATINUM RATING.
Sika Sarnafil single ply S327 and G410 roofing membranes earned the highest possible certification to NSF/ANSI 347.
ECO-FRIENDLY PRODUCTS
At Sika Sarnafil, we’ve been the leaders in roofing sustainability for over 55 years, helping building owners meet their sustainability goals through long-lasting, energy-efficient roofing and waterproofing products and systems. From our EnergySmart “cool” roof colors to our innovative Sika SolaRoof System, we have sustainability options to meet any of your roofing and waterproofing needs.
LIFE-CYCLE ASSESSMENT
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the science of environmental footprinting, in order to report on impact measures such as Global Warming Potential, embodied energy, and potential to create smog over the entire lifetime of a product. Sika Sarnafil commissioned the Athena Sustainable Materials Institute, a non-profit LCA think tank for the construction sector, to review product performance data from various sites around the country along with providing a thorough review of various research and certification documents.
An excerpt from their review states that a “service life of 35 years of Sarnafil roofing membrane…reflects the high resistance to weathering and aging of the product when properly installed.” Based on Athena’s LCA, Sika Sarnafil has published the first single-ply roof membrane cradle-to-grave EPD for Sarnafil S 327 and G 410 disclosing the impacts of Sika Sarnafil’s roofing membranes from manufacturing through end-of-life.
The graph shows that when compared to a typical U.S. TPO roof, a high-performance PVC membrane, such as Sarnafil, has a significantly lower carbon footprint, in part due to its longer life cycle. The slightly higher carbon footprint at the beginning of the life cycle is in part due to differences in product density; this is outweighed later in the life cycle. The lifetime reduction in environmental impacts and increase in cost savings outweigh impacts associated with production, distribution, and use.
WASTE MINIMIZATION
Reducing waste starts with durable products that last longer than the industry average. Sika Sarnafil membranes continue to outperform after decades of use in every imaginable climate all over the world.
When a roof must be replaced, our post-consumer recycling program recycles millions of square feet of used membrane yearly, reducing the burden on landfills. Sika Sarnafil is still the first and only thermoplastic manufacturer to recycle old roofs into new roofing products completing full circle recycling. Sika has invested in state-of-the-art processing equipment that enables large scale recycling of post-consumer vinyl roofs back into roofing products. These products include walkway pads, protection membranes and roofing and waterproofing membranes.
FIRE PERFORMANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY
Any product within your building that can stop or reduce the chance of your building burning to the ground helps keep that ruined building from being added to a landfill. While fire safety codes have greatly improved over the years, losses from fire are still an ongoing issue. Sika Sarnafil roof membranes are made of PVC, which is naturally fire resistant.
PVC roofing membranes, such as Sika's, can self-extinguish and resist the spread of flame. In a laboratory experiment, a flame source was applied for ten seconds to SBS modified bitumen, fire retardant TPO, Sikaplan membrane and fire retardant EPDM. When the flame source was removed, the Sikaplan membrane extinguished the fire, while the alternative membranes continued to support combustion.