Bayer
MaterialScience is presenting a whole host of new developments in thermal
insulation at Utech 2009 in Maastricht that enable real estate owners and tenants
to make significant savings in heating costs and also underline the company’s
commitment to environmental and climate protection. These range from metal-faced
sandwich panels with extended functionality and insulating panels with reduced
flammability to fire protection barriers that efficiently prevent a fire from
spreading from floor to floor of a building. Bayer MaterialScience deploys its
extensive know-how in rigid polyurethane foam, a high-performance insulation
material, for developments of this type, which are often created in close collaboration
with customers.
Melodious thermal insulation
Metal-faced sandwich panels have proved a great success in large-area façade
and roof insulation in industrial and commercial construction for many years.
They are supplied as self-supporting prefabricated elements and combine exceptional
strength with relatively low weight. Fischer Profil GmbH in Netphen-Deuz has
developed a highly functional combination of metal-faced sandwich panels and
a revolutionary "surround-sound" system and offers this under the
FischerSONIC name. The modified sandwich elements transform building façades
and the inner walls of halls, railway stations and other public buildings into
invisible loudspeakers that also offer a high level of thermal insulation thanks
to the Baymer® polyurethane system.
"Sound is generated by vibrating surfaces known as soundboards which
are also made from rigid polyurethane foam and are integrated invisibly into
walls," says Dr. Rolf Roers, who is in charge of the development of metal-faced
sandwich system applications at Bayer MaterialScience. The advantages of this
are excellent sound distribution, a clear design and - particularly in public
buildings - protection against vandalism, which conventional loudspeakers constantly
fall prey to. Metal-faced sandwich panels are fitted with solar energy films
for simultaneous energy production and thermal insulation on roofs. New design
options for metal-faced sandwich panels are also offered by printing the surface
in line with customers’ specific needs. Innovative developments of this
kind are typical of BaySystems, the global polyurethane systems partner of Bayer
MaterialScience, which works in close collaboration with customers such as Fischer
Profil to develop tailor-made system solutions.
For many years, polyurethane insulation boards have also provided high levels
of thermal insulation and thus significant energy savings. Linzmeier Bauelemente
GmbH, based in Riedlingen, Germany, now offers so-called Linitherm insulation
boards that meet European fire class C, which corresponds to the German building
material class B1 (low flammability), and can be used in old and new multi-story
buildings up to a height of 22 meters if the relevant building permit is in
place. This opens up promising new options in all applications that have to
comply with these stricter fire requirements. Bayer MaterialScience plays a
key role in meeting the requirements of the low fire class with its Baymer®
and Desmodur® raw materials for manufacturing these PIR insulation boards.
Keeping fire at bay
To improve heat insulation, façades are frequently equipped with a composite
thermal insulation system based on rigid polystyrene foam. To prevent a fire
from spreading via the exterior façade, fire protection barriers for
insulation material thicknesses of 100 millimeters and above need to be installed
at particular intervals, either above window lintels or all around. puren GmbH,
Überlingen, now offers a new system known as purenotherm BSR, which is
based on Desmodur® and Desmophen® raw materials from Bayer MaterialScience
and uses a polyisocyanurate-modified polyurethane rigid foam (PIR) for fire
protection reasons. The material properties of the mineral-fiber fire protection
barriers used in the past differ considerably from those of foamed polystyrene
(EPS), which is used in conventional composite thermal insulation systems. Processing
needs to be adapted accordingly, and in the worst cases façade renovation
may be necessary. Purenotherm BSR fire protection barriers can be processed
without complex fastening technology, using the adhesive provided for the relevant
EPS composite system, and boast excellent adhesion and pull strength.
Apropos composite thermal insulation systems: Ibbenbüren-based EcoTherm
Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, in collaboration with plaster specialist quick-mix
group GmbH & Co. KG, a leading plaster and composite thermal insulation
systems supplier, based in Osnabrück, has developed the innovative "LOBATHERM
with polyurethane insulation boards (WLS 028)" composite thermal insulation
system, which is based on raw materials from Bayer MaterialScience. It offers
major advantages over polystyrene-based products, particularly for use in constructing
residential houses and apartments. The thermal conductivity of PUR-HL insulation
boards is extremely low at only 0.028 W/m2K. "For a given layer thickness,
due to its thermal insulation capacity, the system enables considerable savings
in energy and therefore also in carbon dioxide emissions of 25 percent, compared
with conventional composite heat insulation systems with WLS 035.
In case of WLS 040 even savings of close to 40 percent can be achieved,"
explains Dr. Lutz Brassat, head of raw materials application development for
rigid polyurethane foam at Bayer MaterialScience.
New climate concept for commercial buildings
Highly efficient thermal insulation using rigid polyurethane foam is also the
central theme at Bayer MaterialScience’s new innovations center, which
is currently being built in Greater Noida, near New Delhi, India, and is due
to be completed by the middle of this year. The state-of-the-art office and
exhibition building is the first project in Bayer MaterialScience’s new
"EcoCommercial Building" climate concept, which can be specifically
adapted to the Earth’s various climatic zones using a skilful combination
of architectural devices and appropriate materials. This low-energy building
manages with 70 percent less energy than similar office buildings in this part
of India and produces no emissions. To achieve this, comprehensive simulations
were carried out to adapt the building exactly to the climatic conditions of
the surrounding area. Through this type of optimization, the concept would be
contributing significantly to boosting climate protection when being implemented
on a global basis. The majority of energy savings for the Indian building are
achieved by using polyurethane thermal insulation materials. They show an extremely
positive energy balance, saving over 70 times more energy during a service life
of around 50 years than is required in their production.