Adaption of Constructions to Climate Change

Adaptation to Climate Change

 by Alda Shabanaj - Senior Product Manager at SABIC Functional Forms | Europe | 09-03-2024

The frequency of weather phenomena such as sudden floods, storms and heavy snowfall is rising, and so are the insurance rates for buildings without appropriate precautions against these perils of climate change. Architects and owners are seeking more resilient, efficient and durable B&C materials to increase the weatherability of residential, public, commercial and industrial facilities.

LEXAN™ solid sheet and LEXAN THERMOCLEAR™ multiwall sheet products from SABIC Functional Forms have a history of proven B&C applications providing long-term protection against damages related to high UV exposure, wind loads, rain storms and snow loads, with limited written warranties against yellowing, loss of visible light transparency and loss of mechanical strength for up to 20 years. Besides, they are up to 250 times stronger than traditional glass panels. Moreover, they also achieve some of the highest ratings in terms of fire resistance in line with EN 13501.

In addition, LEXAN THERMOCLEAR sheet exhibits excellent thermal insulation, clearly outperforming standard glass and providing a very sustainable, energy and cost efficient material choice to ensure the comfort and well-being of people even behind very large glazed premises.

One of the growing environmental risks particularly for owners of buildings with large glazed roofs, façades or extended outdoor spaces is hail storms. More often than ever, hail stones are found to have the size of ping-pong balls or bigger, which can create extremely high damages within only few minutes. In recent trials according to stringent specifications of the Swiss Association of Cantonal Fire Insurers (ACFI), a wide range of LEXAN sheet glazing products in solid and multiwall grades has been certified to deliver superior hail resistance in both inclined and vertical configurations, with the highest possible ratings confirmed in all three categories of water tightness, light transmission and appearance after testing.

This clearly underscores that LEXAN sheet offers the most comprehensive weatherability of all B&C glazing materials and can be a game changer in adapting our buildings to the extremes of climate change.