Sameer Deshpande, Country Head & Business Development Manager- India, Malaysia, Thailand, South Asia, Onduline talks about his company’s advantages over competitors and how the roofing industry has evolved over a decade.

What are the different types of roofing solutions offered by you and its advantages?
Onduline offers lightweight roofing sheets, roofing tiles and polycarbonate roofing sheets in the Indian market. The lightweight and water proofing aspects of our products offer significant benefits to end-customers. Moreover, all Onduline products offer excellent thermal and acoustic comfort as well as high wind resistance of up to 314 km/hr. Onduline products contain no metal or asbestos and are safe and eco-friendly.

How do you select an appropriate roofing solution for a project?
With a roof making up 40 per cent of a project’s overall design, selecting the right roofing can have a huge impact. Some of the key points to keep in mind while selecting the right roofing for your project are the design of the roof, roof pitch, features and benefits offered by the roofing system, warranty offered by the product and of course costing. Another important factor that is often overlooked is the weight of the product. The weight of roofing materials is always a concern, because the structural framing of a roof is only designed to carry a certain amount of weight. Lightweight materials like Onduline is easier to load onto the roof and handle during installation.

How new techniques and innovations have brought about changes in roofing?
Roofs have remained the same for decades with little advancement with respect to their functionality. The key challenges around roofing are waterproofing, thermal comfort and durability.

Certainly, what has changed is in the area of aesthetics and durability. One apt example here is Onduline roofing sheets and tiles which come with a water proofing warranty of 15 years and in multiple aesthetic colours and design. Many non-primary roofing solutions like Shingles have been found in the Indian market over the past decade.

What are the new trends emerging in roofing over the last 10-15 years?
The roofing industry has certainly been evolving over the past decade. Be it a trend of transition from fibre cement roofing to colour coated metal roofing or introduction of secondary roofing like Shingles. The latest trend to watch out for is solar panels as roofs to be offered as an integrated solution. Other trends to mention are low pitch roofs, use of roof gutters for rainwater harvesting etc.

Sameer Deshpande, Country Head & Business Development Manager- India, Malaysia, Thailand, South Asia, Onduline