JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #85 - November/December 2013 - 35

100% recycled post-consumer PET),
but also to keeping energy consumption,
C02 emissions and carbon footprint as
low as possible. Besides the excellent
result of a 30% lower carbon footprint, a
comprehensive life-cycle analysis proves
that the greenhouse effect can be reduced
by 34% and energy consumption by 40%.
A comparison with various foam cores is
shown in the graphs on the left (Figures
5 and 6).

ArmaFORM PET GR
contributes to green building
Dr. Justyna Dolega from Armacell recently studied the impact of using recycled
PET foam with regards to green building
directives such as LEED (Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design) or
BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment
Method).
She found that ArmaFORM PET GR
foam may positively support the following criteria:
* Improved insulation efﬁciency
* Use of resources and recycled material
* Potential in innovation & design
* LCA data
Overall, ArmaFORM PET GR may help
obtain appropriate LEED certification as
it can potentially improve results on 37
different points.

Global cost
It may be true that, in terms of raw
material and manufacturing costs, FRP
composites are a bit more expensive than
conventional materials. However, when
it comes to the overall picture - the total
life cycle costs including construction
and installation, operation and maintenance, replacement and end of life - FRP
composites are always ranked as the most
cost-effective solution when compared
apple to apple!
Without boundaries and limitations, FRP
composites represent the perfect fit for
innovative architectural design. n

No85 November - December 2013 /

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Feature Construction

many criteria; the
one to be highlighted
here, mainly due to
offsite manufacture,
is a stronger HSQE
(health-safety-quality-environment)
management. Offsite
manufacturing results
in better schedule
control as several
features are pre-fitted,
and the facilitated
installation methodoFig. 5: CO2 emissions during production of different core materials
logy avoids complex
and delayed coordination with other
trades works.
One of the largest
ever FRP composite
projects is on-going
in the western part of
Saudi Arabia: the Haramain High Speed
Railway (HHR). The
HHR station's large
roof panels (totalling 160,000 square
Fig. 6: Energy consumption during production of different core materials
metres over four
Class A as per ASTM E84, it presents
stations with a free span up to 14 metres)
an excellent alternative to intumescent
are installed and fully equipped with skycoatings as it generates very low smoke
lights, a false ceiling, mosaic tile finishing
in comparison and is a strong asset with
and fixtures for building maintenance
regards to escape route considerations.
utilities, just to name a few. This is a great
Moreover, Armaflex Ultima is a more
example of what could be expected from
cost-effective solution (Figure 4).
innovative architectural design with FRP
sandwich panels. With ArmaFORM PET,
Function integration
Armacell provided more than 50% of the
Besides structural requirements, FRP
cores for the entire project.
sandwich panels also offer remarkable
features such as fully integrated thermal
Sustainability
insulation or almost unlimited surface
Caring for climate - the UN Global
finishing options (seamless, smooth,
Compact Initiative calling for the
rough, mosaic tiles, gloss finish, alumiresponsibility of businesses to reflect
nium, aggregate finishes, etc.) to satisfy
the needs of climate protection - is fully
modern architectural demands.
endorsed by Armacell. Especially, the
On top of that, the integration of
new generation of PET foam core, Armaequipment such as skylights, building
FORM PET GR, is aimed to be used
maintenance utilities, LEDs (light-emitin building and construction as a 'real'
ting diodes), pipes or wires brings added
sustainable material.
value to construction projects through an
When ArmaFORM PET GR is proefficient, fully-integrated solution.
duced, importance is attached not only
The impact could be assessed through
to the raw materials used (in this case

jec composites magazine 35
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JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #85 - November/December 2013

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