In 2019, the family business KTC d.d. opened another shopping centre in the town of Vrbovec in Croatia. The centre, equipped with a supermarket, a restaurant and a shop for agricultural products, is a great asset, both for citizens and for the environment.

KTC d.d. opened its first supermarket in 1992 and now operates in more than 25 towns with around 1,460 employees. For the new shopping centre, the investor was particularly concerned with keeping the energy efficiency of the building as high as possible. To further support this, solar panels on the roof were also used to provide the building with its own electricity supply. One challenge in the construction of the building was therefore the stability and robustness of the roof structure, which had to withstand the additional weight of the panels.

A system from Knauf Aquapanel was used for the construction. The first layer here consists of a vapour barrier that was applied directly to the steel substructure of the roof. This is followed by two layers of rock wool from Knauf Insulation to insulate the roof sufficiently. The AQUAPANEL^® Cement Board Rooftop is laid directly on top as a cover board. Finally, a membrane is applied to protect against water.

The use of the AQUAPANEL^® Cement Board Rooftop allows point loads to be distributed over a larger area, which means that the use of solar panels is no longer a problem. The cover board is built to withstand many impacts, protecting both membrane and insulation. The additional solar panels of the supermarket can produce a total of 60 KW, covering 30% of the centre’s energy needs.

In public buildings, the fire protection is also a priority. In this respect the AQUAPANEL^® Cement Board Rooftop can impress with its non-combustible properties and forms a robust and profitable first line of defence for the sustainable protection of people and property.

Knauf Aquapanel technical specialists were always available to answer questions and provide assistance during the planning and construction phases.