Shingles

No, not the illness, but a sustainable wood roofing material.

We're having to do some 'value engineering' to trim the project budget. The global economic downturn is having an impact on our finances (and has even resulted in our builder getting rid of some of his employees due to lack of other work) and we're seeing what we can do to trim costs. Instead of using an aluzinc standing seam roof for the kitchen/diner we've come up with a possible alternative. Aluzinc would be comtemporary and ultimately recyclable but is not cheap. An alternative that we've tracked down, which will suit the very low pitch roof (15 degrees), are red cedar shingles. These are much like conventional flat roof tiles except that they are slices of timber, and as a renewable material they are very sustainable.

Their eco credentials, combined with being contemporary in their own way and cheaper than aluzinc, may mean we opt for them instead. We just need the builder to confirm that his roofer can install them for less than an aluzinc roof, then we'll go ahead with the change.