Smart ventilation dried roof insulation, reducing replacement costs

The townhouse located at the Old Market Square in Dzierżoniów, Poland, is part of the city’s historic architecture. This building, combining residential and commercial functions, underwent a major renovation in 2005. The townhouse has a flat roof with an area of 250 m², which was designed as a green roof. Unfortunately, problems with the roof appeared after the first winter following the renovation.

The main source of the problems turned out to be leaks in the drainage pipes that were supposed to prepare the roof for functioning as a green roof. Over time, this led to extensive moisture buildup in the roof’s insulation layer.

Within two years, the degradation of the flat roof led to such severe damage that the top floor of the building had to be taken out of use. The condition of the ceiling in the top-floor apartment continued to deteriorate, necessitating urgent intervention.

To prevent further degradation of the building and restore full functionality to the top floor, a decision was made to undertake a comprehensive roof repair.

The renovation work included:

1. Improving the roof drainage system: The existing drainage system was repaired and sealed, addressing the root cause of the moisture problem.
2. Replacing the roofing material: The old bitumen layer was removed and replaced with a new, waterproof covering.
3. Installation of VILPE Sense humidity control system: To avoid the costly replacement of the entire insulation layer, an advanced moisture monitoring and roof ventilation system was implemented. The VILPE Sense system includes:
   • VILPE Eco Sense roof fan: This ensures continuous air exchange, promoting the drying of the insulation layer.
   • Mobile base station: This allows for monitoring of the roof’s condition and provides data on humidity and temperature levels.
   • Humidity and temperature sensors: These allow precise monitoring of the conditions within the insulation layer.
   • Alipai 110 underpressure air vents: These facilitate the removal of moisture from the insulation layer.

VILPE Sense dried the roof insulation layer and reduced costs

The use of the VILPE Sense system enabled the drying of the soaked insulation layer, which, along with the completion of other renovation work, halted the further degradation of the building. However, what is also extremely important is that it helped avoid the costly replacement and disposal of insulation materials. As a result, it was possible to significantly reduce renovation costs and provide long-term protection of the roof against future moisture issues.

Roof Structure:

• Concrete roof
• Styrofoam (10 cm)
• Lightweight aggregate (40 cm)
• Concrete (10 cm)
• Bitumen (2 layers)