Lexapanel ... the new PC standing seam technology is a stylish and sustainable solution.
Lexapanel offers design flexibility
Lexapanel PC sheet, developed by a Sabic subsidiary jointly with AmeriLux, offers design and performance benefits while demonstrating the company’s commitment to energy conservation.
01 January 2012
INNOVATIVE Plastics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) of Saudi Arabia, has unveiled its new patent-pending Lexapanel polycarbonate (PC) sheet standing seam technology, which it says will give architects and builders exceptional flexibility to create sustainable and beautiful translucent roofing and other glazing elements.
The Lexapanel sheet was developed in collaboration with AmeriLux International, an authorised North American distributor of Sabic’s Lexan Thermoclear, Thermoclick sheet products, Verolite multiwall sheets and Lexan corrugated sheet products.
“Compared with other standing seam solutions, the new offering provides more glazing options, including a choice of width, thickness, coating, colour, structure and type of connection,” says a spokesman for the firm, which has its global headquarters in the US.
Furthermore, Lexapanel sheet delivers the strength, weatherability, clarity and thermal insulation of Sabic’s renowned Lexan PC multiwall sheet. This joint, high-performance solution demonstrates the company’s commitment in developing sustainable solutions that promote energy conservation while providing customer-focused daylighting solutions to improve working and living environments.
“Lexapanel sheet is a major innovation that addresses many different building and construction challenges – including cost and design freedom – with one versatile concept,” says Jack Govers, general manager, Specialty Film and Sheet, Innovative Plastics.
“Our collaboration with AmeriLux will benefit architects, builders and integrators by simplifying the use of standing seam designs and encouraging integration of transparent glazing and roofing elements that admit natural light, reduce heating and cooling demands for greater energy efficiency, and add style to any building,” he says.
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Kurt Voss, CEO of AmeriLux International, says: “Our work with Sabic has enabled AmeriLux to offer the market a totally new polycarbonate solution that expands glazing choices. We have developed a unique concept that adapts to the building design instead of forcing the architect or builder to work around a one-size-fits-all product.”
He says the outstanding performance of Lexan multiwall sheet offered in the new system promises to change the way translucent roofing and walls are designed and installed, thereby making it easier to incorporate natural light into building solutions.
The use of Lexapanel sheet offers many choices and advantages. The standing seam system joins Lexan multiwall sheet panels of virtually any length and width with a choice of connectors, including U-shaped, tongue-and-groove and custom configurations. Customers can specify the structure, thickness and colour of the Lexan sheet, as well as the coating they require, including unique enhanced ultraviolet (UV)-resistant coating.
In addition to roofing, Lexapanel sheet standing seam systems can be used for many other types of glazing applications, such as walkways, canopies, skylights, and shelters. The translucent Lexan multiwall PC glazing delivers many benefits to customers and end-users. Environmentally, this solution offers excellent thermal insulation that can reduce energy used for heating and cooling, and permits natural light to reduce the need for artificial illumination. Its light weight contributes to reduced fuel use and emissions in shipping.
The glazing material is durable, impact-resistant and strong to ensure safety, and complies with CC1 (ASTM D635) and Class A (ASTM E-84) smoke and fire ratings. Both sides of the Lexan sheet are treated with proprietary UV protection against outdoor weathering. Accelerated 4,000-hour weathering tests (DIN53387/ASTM G26) performed by Sabic, show Lexan sheets’ excellent ability to maintain colour, light transmission and impact strength in up to 15 years of outdoor exposure in moderate climate conditions, says the spokesman.
Available in a broad range of other colours, Lexan sheets also provide a variety of specialty coatings. All connection systems are tested for mechanical properties, weathering stability and water/air penetration.
The Lexapanel sheet system may also reduce system costs through simplified installation, thanks to the snap-on connection and elimination of aluminium connectors, reducing installation time and cost and increasing the total light coming through the roof.
Sabic ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies, and is a global market leader in the production of polyethylene, polypropylene, advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilisers. It manufactures with a global footprint in Saudi Arabia, the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. The company operates in more than 40 countries across the world with 33,000 employees worldwide.
Innovative Plastics, Sabic’s strategic business unit, is a leading, global supplier of engineering thermoplastics with an 80-year history of breakthrough solutions that solve its customers’ most pressing challenges. Today, the multi-billion-dollar company with operations in more than 35 countries and approximately 9,000 employees worldwide continues to lead the plastics industry with customer collaboration and continued investments in new polymer technologies, global application development, process technologies, and environmentally responsible solutions that serve diverse markets.
AmeriLux, a worldwide distributor of multiwall and corrugated polycarbonate sheeting, provides customers with a full line of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) products, FRP (fibre-reinforced plastics), steel tubing, and steel coil. Sabic supplies the Lexan multiwall sheet products and profiles and AmeriLux is responsible for product conversion, assembly and distribution.
