In the building trades the acronym tpo stands for thermoplastic polyolefin a material originally developed for pond liners and used extensively for roofing since 1989 it s a single ply membrane made from a polymerized combination of polypropylene and ethylene propylene rubber that can be attached to a roof with adhesive or with mechanical fasteners.
Roof pond definition.
The roof pond approach brings the differing building aspects of a building roof ceiling heating and cooling system and heat distribution does away with ducts into one system.
Because the water increases the thermal mass of the building it also increases the gain in solar energy storing the absorbed energy during the day when it is abundant for later use.
Ponding is the unwanted pooling of water typically on a flat roof or roadway.
Ponding water accelerates the deterioration of many materials including seam adhesives in single ply roof systems steel equipment supports and particularly roofing asphalt.
A clogged roof drain will cause water to pond leading to increased dead load weight on building that may not be engineered to accommodate that weight.
On low slope asphalt roofs ponding water allows the oil solvent components of the asphalt to leach out and evaporate leaving the roof membrane brittle and susceptible to cracking and leaking in the ponding location.
The water will then sit and create a pond the longer water sits on a roof the more likely it is to cause damage over time.
What causes roof ponding.
So what is roof ponding.
Leaks from cooler lines to structural issues building a flat roof can bring considerable advantages for your commercial roof primarily in providing more interior space.
Flat roofs are inherently bad at draining water unlike sloped roofs.
Additionally ponding water on a roof can freeze.
Ponding water sources other than rain.
Roof ponds provide cooling benefits through indirect evaporative cooling and or radiant cooling 19 22 23 24 25 26.
This review suggests that in some cases roof ponds can provide year round thermal comfort while reducing demand for active heating and cooling systems.
Therefore they can be utilized in efforts towards the goal of carbon neutral design.
Roof pond a pond of water on a roof structure that cools a building by evaporation.
The roof ponds of contained water are the heating and cooling unit.
Well it s not as fun as it sounds.