Mediterranean cities are characterized by sloped roofs with ceramic tiles of traditional colors such asbrick red in different tones. Their solar reflectance is generally low and can cause overheating of thebuilding due to solar gains during the hot season. In this work, an innovative approach is tested to achieve roof tiles with high capacity of rejectingsolar radiation.

It consists of using a cool-colored tile with relatively high solar reflectance, combinedwith a thin insulating layer attached below the tile and made of a silica-gel super-insulating material.An aluminum foil with very low thermal emittance is also applied below the insulating layer. Along theperimeter of each tile, line brushes are attached in order to enclose an almost sealed air space betweenthe aluminum foil and the roof slab below when the tiles are supported on wooden battens.

Composite tiles like that outlined here can provide a strong increase of roof thermal resistance, helpfulto control either heat loss in winter, or building overheating in summer. They can be installed onto anexisting roof, for instance the sloped tile roof of a historical or traditional building, with no need to modifythe roof height and structure.