JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #95 - Special JEC Europe - March 2015 - 47

Building

Composite-based structural system for buildings
This project consists in a compositebased structural system for buildings,
with an all-composite system for
single-story buildings and a composite/steel system for multiple-floor
buildings.
The use of composites made it possible to create a lightweight structural
system that is rapidly constructed
at competitive costs compared to
conventional constructions.
The project development stage extended over two years, from 2013 to
2015, with a planned launch in 2016.
In this industrialized building system

based on reinforced composite materials, the composition of the building
is obtained by multiplying a standard module under industrialization
assumptions: modularity, standardization, efficient use of space and
sustainability.
MVC is recognized internationally as
an innovative company with a great
capacity to apply advanced processes
and materials in the engineering
plastic segment. It develops products
with complete and personalized
solutions for the automotive and

The idea behind the collaboration
was to use bio-composites to significantly reduce embodied energy in the
building industry while delivering high
performance and being commercially
competitive. The result is a structural
façade system consisting of state-of-theart bio-composites with the potential
to reduce the embodied energy by 50%
compared to other benchmark solutions
without increasing cost. The goal is to
show a route for change towards the use
of sustainable materials where new biocomposites can replace conventional
construction materials such as aluminium, steel, brick and concrete. The
façade panel is 4 m in height, 2.3 m in
width, and has a variable thickness with
an average value of 0.3 m. It can be used
both in residential and office buildings.

transportation markets, as well as
the wind energy industry and civil
construction. MVC operates eight
units in Brazil.

Construction

BioBuild-Façade system in Biocomposites
As part of the BioBuild project consortium, Arup Deutschland and GXN
innovation (Denmark) jointly designed
the world's first bio-composite panel
for unitized façade systems in building
construction. The project was coordinated by NetComposites (UK) and
brought together 13 organizations from
7 different countries.

Winner: MVC Solutions in Plastics
(Brazil)
Partner: Eltzdesign (Brazil)

The panel is composed of two bio-composite laminates, made of bio-polyester
and twill Biotex™ flax fabrics; one facing
the exterior and one facing the interior
of the building. These have a thickness
of 10 mm and 6 mm respectively, and
work structurally by withstanding the
design loads expected for a façade system. An open-mould process was used
to produce the bio-composite laminates.
The external laminate has a clear coating
which makes the natural fabric visible,
thus creating a unique appearance. The
internal laminate is painted white. A
number of coating colours and typologies can be chosen for the surface's
finish, also depending on the building's
specific requirements. The gap between
the bio-composite laminates is filled
with insulation to improve both the
acoustic and physical characteristics of
the panel. In addition, a timber frame is
fixed to the bio-composite laminates to
host the gasket profiles and increase the
edge stiffness.
The extended use of bio-composite
materials allows improved environmental sustainability with respect

Winner: Arup Deutschland (Germany) -
GXN Innovation (Denmark)
Partner(s): ACCIONA Infrastructures
(Spain), Amorim Cork Composites (Portugal), Exel Composites (UK), Fiber-Tech
Construction (Germany), Institut für
Verbundwerkstoffe (Germany), Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), Laboratorio
Nacional De Engenharia Civil (Portugal),
NetComposites (UK), SHR (Netherlands),
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast
(Netherlands)

to benchmark materials solutions,
including traditional glass or carbon
fibre composites. Moreover, the panel
was designed considering a "cradle-tocradle" approach in which all parts, and
particularly the bio-based materials,
can be easily detached from the rest at
the end of the life cycle and be either
recycled or reused.

No95 March 2015 /

jec composites magazine 47
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #95 - Special JEC Europe - March 2015

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