Roofing tile absorbs & neutralizes smog pollutants

Will you pay a premium for a roofing tile that eats smog? A Georgia company, MontierLifetile hopes so. MontierLifetile has developed a concrete roofing tile, it has named Auranox, which absorbs and neutralizes Nitrogen Oxide, a primary pollutant caused by vehicles exhaust.

How the Auranox Roofing Tile ‘Eats’ Smog

The concrete tiles are treated with titanium dioxide, which when combined with UV light from the sun neutralizes Mono-Nitrogen Oxides or otherwise referred to as NOx. The resulting “organic nitrate” rinses off during rainfall and supposedly helps plants grow. A test study at the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany filled a chamber with NOx gases containing the smog eating tiles and measured the levels of pollutants after being treated with UV lights. The results showed significant decreases in NOx, as shown in the chart below.

All in all, the company claims that over the course of one year a 2,000 square foot roof will destroy the same amount of NOx that is produced while driving 10,800 miles.

Earlier this summer KB Home built a prototype home in Lancaster, California with the Auranox tiles pictured to the right.

Will Homeowners Pay a Premium for the Smog-Eating Roofing Tile?

The question remains, will people pay for it?

Although the company estimates that costs will begin to decrease with volume and time, it will most likely remain a premium price over traditional roofing choices. In addition, it seems only prudent to question the actual purity of the water runoff that is rinsing away the “neutralized” pollutants into homeowner’s yards. Also if the premium price tag is similar or still more than the solar powered shingles that are now being introduced, one would doubt that a homeowner would choose a smog eating tile over a solar product that can put money back in their pocket and reduce energy consumption.

Either way, the Auranox Smog Eating Tile has made its splash into the roofing market and its fate will be determined by adoption, which seems best suited for commercial use.

What do you think?