Roof Heating, LG Arena, Birmingham
PROJECT: Roof Heating System for the LG Arena, Birmingham NEC
The site:
The LG Arena at the Birmingham NEC was seeking a solution to the buildup of ice and snow in the winter on the 1,200m2 roof of the building. To allow the arena to suspend additional audio-visual equipment from the roof, they either needed to go through the costly and disruptive process of reinforcing the roof, or find an alternative way of ensuring the snow loading did not need to be taken into account. Heat Mat’s solution was to supply a cost-effective roof snow melting system that would eliminate the risk of ice and snow buildup on the roof.
The system:
Care was taken to design a system that was capable of achieving the objective whilst working within the power constraints on-site. 12km of bespoke specialist heating cable were manufactured for the roof, and Heat Mat’s designers worked with the roofing contractors to ensure that the fixing method would not harm the integrity of the roof structure.
In addition to the roof heating system, it was important to ensure the large quantities of water produced by the heating system drained easily, without the risk of refreezing. A powerful gutter de-icing cable was specified to ensure all gutters and downpipes remained free of ice at all times and prevented dangerous icicles forming, which could have fallen onto property and people below.
