Award

R-1.5 black sheathing asphalt-coated panel. S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 | 15 Building Envelope P H OTO G R A P H Y CO U RT E S Y B U I L D I N G P RO DU C T S O F C A N A DA CO R P. Matthieu Danis, product manager, wood fibre, at Building Products of Canada Corp. (BP Canada), notes that his company's R-1.5 black sheathing one- half-inch panel "has made a huge comeback in the envelope realm, and U.S. sales have exploded." The product in question is an asphalt-coated panel that for years was eclipsed by OSB and generally regarded as outdated and low-end. "But substantial improvements were made to the panel, and when prices of OSB went up people began realizing that our panel was lighter and more permeable, plus it was more price stable than OSB," Danis says, adding that recently the panels were used on hundreds of new homebuilds in the Greater Toronto area. Another product BP Canada is actively promoting is a 1 3⁄16-inch sheathing panel, the R-5 XP, that has proven to be hugely successful in residential applica- tions. "It is made from Dupont Styrofoam brand XPS, laminated on a wood fibre panel and coated with asphalt for greater weather resistance," says Danis. Meanwhile at Euclid Admixture Canada, national business development manager Brian Salazar notes that while his company is mainly focused on fibre reinforcement for slab-on-grade work, it is nonetheless helping advance the resil- iency of envelope products in an interesting way. "We are supplying a tilt-up contractor with Tuf-Strand for their sandwich panels," he explains. "The manu- facturing process is such that several inches of concrete is poured onto a panel [face mix], then a few inches of insulation and finally the structural panel with reinforcing steel. Tuf-Strand fibre is used in the face mix instead of welded wire mesh to eliminate the 'ghosting effect' of the steel in the face mix." Tuf-Strand is a patented polypropylene and polyethylene synthetic macrofi- bre successfully used to replace steel fibres, welded wire mesh, and conventional reinforcing bars in a wide variety of applications. Concrete reinforced with Tuf- Strand has three-dimensional reinforcing with enhanced flexural toughness, impact, and abrasion resistance; Tuf-Strand also helps mitigate the formation of plastic shrinkage cracking in concrete. Finally, Kari Yuers, president and CEO of Kryton International Inc., points out that while panels and insulation are typical focuses of building envelopes, waterproofing as achieved by her company's exten- sive line of products plays a huge role in envelope integrity. As an example, she says, "At Vancouver International Airport [Y VR] the new Pier D used KIM, KWS, and K AP on all the below-grade areas. The majority of this project is slab-on-grade due to the high watertable in Richmond. The criti- cal areas of the elevator pits, escalator pits, and other mechanical rooms needed to be below-grade and protected properly from the Pacific Ocean, and the new climate reality with rising sea levels makes the waterproofing decision critical." The products Yuers is referring to are the Krystol Internal Membrane (a hydrophilic crystalline admixture used to create permanently waterproof concrete), Krystol Waterstop System (a grout and treatment that provides wall- to-wall double protection waterproofing for construction joints in conjunction with KIM), and the Krystol Assurance Program, Kryton's 10-year material and labour waterproofing warranty. Yuers says, "This program allows us to put extra resources on a proj- ect during the planning and construction stage to provide enhanced oversight and inspection and basically to ensure that it is built prop- erly and under the right conditions. Architects and building consultants love this added assurance, and contractors like this extra support as they are just as interested in not having problems and costly rework." A Aluflam.indd 1 2018-11-12 9:36

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