Symbiosis of design, technology, economics and ecology

Hundreds of colours, a fascinating variety of surface structures and elevations, married to a broad range of construction accessories are today available to the architect who devotes his attention to the composite panel method of construction. With their constructions all over Europe, creative architects of the 1990s proved what visionary scope could be achieved with composite panels, if consistent use is made of the benefits. From an abundance of world-wide architectural examples, below we look at six buildings with extremely different uses:

• Austria: Grossfurtner abattoir in St. Martin
• Germany: Neue Messe München
• Germany: Nick Bollettieri Tennis-Akademie" Sports Centre
• Germany: Sporting-Club Berlin
• Singapore: SINGAPORE EXPO Exhibition Centre
• Italy: Malpensa Airport in Milan
• Holland: ROTEB waste incineration plant in Rotterdam

Ill. 1: In St. Martin in Austria, a 30,000 m³, 15 m high industrial building was erected in 1994 for the Grossfurtner abattoir (see Ill. 8.17). The load-bearing construction is made from reinforced concrete. Slate-grey (RAL 7032), 80 mm thick sandwich method were used for the facades.

Ill. 2: Between 1996 and 1998, 13 exhibition halls were erected using the composite panel method on the former Munich Riem airfield for the Neue Messe München. The rounded, white-aluminium sandwich constructions evoke the aerodynamic form of aircraft wings (design architects: Bystrup, Bregenhøj & Partner, Denmark; design: Kaup, Scholz, Jesse und Obermeyer Planning Group, Germany).

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Ill. 3: "Nick Bollettieri Tennis-Akademie" in the Sports and Health Centre of Sporting-Club Berlin: two tennis halls, each with three courts, eight outdoor courts. The load-bearing construction is a hotch-potch construction of steel struts and BSH truss beams. Original design conceived by Prof. Dr Schmidt & Partner, Germany. Architects from Deuter AG, Germany, were responsible for drawing up the blueprints in 1995. Both tennis halls are approximately 10 m high, have a building surface area of 2,180 m² and a cubature of 15,807 m³. Trapezoidal sheeting and an upturned timber shell were chosen for each of the approx. 1,070 m² facade surfaces. Composite panels that are 70 mm thick in RAL shade 6021 were used for the roof to cover the surface area of 2,228 m². The composite panel construction accounted for 9.4% of the total expenditure of EUR 1.15 million.

Ill. 4: The futuristic design of the SINGAPORE EXPO Exhibition Centre erected in 1999 comes from Cox Richardson Rayner & Liu & Wo Architects Pte. Ltd. in Singapore. With an exhibition surface area of 65,000 m², it is the second-largest exhibition complex in South-East Asia. 26,200 m² of 60 mm thick facade components were used. At 1,200 mm and 600 mm, the building widths vary (designed as a module facade with angled tops) in white and grey-white aluminium.

Ill. 5: The airport operating authority, SEA, designed the entire facade of the new Milan "Malpensa 2000" Airport with composite panels in 1996. The wall components, which have a total surface area of 50,000 m², have an external aluminium shell in light ivory, fir-tree green and cream.

Ill. 6: To give the 276,000 m³, 46 m high ROTEB waste incineration plant in Rotterdam, located in the direct vicinity of a residential area, a more humane feel, Dutch architect, Maarten Struijs, used a facade with bowed, metallic-silver composite panels and rounded corners. The building, which was constructed between 1993 and 1994, reflects the sunlight during the day and creates an ever-changing interplay of light and shadow.

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Heat and humidity protection

All the buildings presented here called for a high level of heat protection without using costly constructions. Insulating the core of the composite panels using polyurethane hard foam achieves the required heat protection using relatively thin walls. A number of thicknesses ranging from 60 mm to 140 mm enables all the requirements laid down by the Heat Protection Decree, and also the more stringent requirements currently being discussed with respect to the design for the EnEV 2000 energy conservation decree, to be met. An interesting point in this connection is that a 100% increase in heat protection using the composite panel method raises the total cost of materials and assembly only by about 10%. Innovations provide extra functional and architectural options. One example is the marriage of solar modules to these composite panels that have a high level of heat insulation, which are already available on the market in various designs.

No less important for heat and humidity protection and for the quality of the ambient climate are airtightness, humidity protection and heavy rainfall protection of the building exterior. The well-honed technique of connecting modern composite panels now enables such a high quality of component connections that they are up to 100 times as airtight as high-grade window constructions. Composite panels are watertight owing to their metallic covers. The connection of the components also forms a watertight seal, if necessary, via suitable sealing systems. For this reason, the composite panel method of construction has proved to be an excellent investment in refrigeration technology, e.g. in cold-storage and freezer depots.

Protection from the weather and corrosion

Protection from the weather and corrosion plays a key role in the life and low maintenance of the building. In recent decades, protection from corrosion of the metallic covering of composite panels has been perfected to such an extent that today, depending on location, a life in excess of at least one to two generations can be expected. In the examples presented here, aluminium covering with organic coating was used in addition to the steel sections with high-grade duplex systems.

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Preventive fire protection

Taking into consideration constructive fire protection and the prevailing fire protection requirements and safety provisions, the composite panel-type construction ranks as one of the safe and reliable methods also from the point of view of fire protection. As a rule in Germany, the entire component is fire resistant (B1 in accordance with DIN 4102). An additional protective function against the effect of flames is provided by the surrounding, metallic covering, including the joints.

Soundproofing

Light building components naturally always have less soundproofing than heavy components. This does not mean, however, that soundproofing must be dispensed with when using light methods of construction. Composite panels that are 60 mm thick have an "assessed average soundproofing measurement" of approx. 25 dB. This soundproofing measurement is sufficient for numerous uses in industrial and hall construction. In noise-sensitive areas of construction, e.g. government and residential buildings, the planner can ensure that the required level of soundproofing is achieved in each case in accordance with an optimum combination of soundproofing and sound absorption by adopting appropriate construction measures using optimum building materials and components.

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Economy

The wide choice of materials for load-bearing construction (timber, steel, aluminium, reinforced concrete) enables the planner to take note not only of the regional conditions but also clients' wishes in each case. The light, albeit very stable components, also allow the load-bearing construction to take on an economic dimension. Productivity and a short construction period lie at the forefront of many building projects. The combined use of a high level of prefabrication, efficient framework planning with building components covering a large area, and lightweight and quick assembly have an extremely beneficial. This can be illustrated by a numerical example: the Argos commercial centre in Stafford in the UK - a 384,000 m³, 8 m high industrial construction with a roof surface area of 48,000 m², including the load-bearing construction - was fully erected in five weeks. The technically simple assembly principle (socket connection and screwing together of the subconstruction) can also lead to noticeable savings in cost and time even in the case of conversions and extensions. Operational efficiency for the saving of energy and low-maintenance issues have already been discussed.

Ecology

In conclusion, we shall take a brief look at the most important ecological qualities of the composite panel method of construction. Careful estimation of the energy-saving potential of a composite panel component can lead to savings in heating energy beyond the useful life of one generation that are at least 40 times that of the energy produced by the PUR hard foam core insulation and at least double the investment cost of the composite panel method of construction. These savings in resources and capital are at the same time also accompanied by a proportionally high reduction in emissions, as they are caused by the burning of heating oil or other organic fuels. This also continues after their life cycle, as composite panels lead to metal and PUR hard foam being exploited in an ecologically and economically constructive way. In addition to energy recycling with energy recovery of approx. 34% of the total energy produced for thermal use, materials recycling of polyurethane hard foam is also carried out, which the construction industry has helped make into interesting products with new materials properties.

All things considered, the composite panel method of construction has developed into a worthwhile alternative owing to this perfect symbiosis of design, technology, economics and ecology.

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