QUALICOAT UK & IRELAND
QUALICOAT Conference Success By Angus Mackie - QUALICOAT UK & Ireland Chair Held in June, QUALICOAT UK & Ireland’s conference at the Building Centre in London, ‘Future Proofing Facades’, has been hailed a success by all who attended. The event was professionally organised and run by QUALICOAT UK & Ireland with the support of the Department of Marketing. The event concentrated on aluminium in construction as a sustainable fenestration material and, in particular, how powder coating has advanced over the last few years to meet specifiers expectations. The Conference was opened by Angus Mackle, Chair of the QUALICOAT UK & Ireland Association, who welcomed speakers and delegates to the days proceedings. Angus also introduced Chris Champion as Compere for the day and thanks
were also given for the days sponsors, Barley Chalu, Chemetall, Interpon, Jotun & Vertik-Al. Angus went on to explain that the conference was all about how we can now maximise the service life of windows and facades to ensure construction sustainability by correct specification. First speaker, Ivo Vermeeren, President of QUALICOAT, based in Zurich, offered an overview of how the Association has grown into a global architectural specification for powder coating, resulting in a worldwide, recognised quality label for finishing. Today the Association is fully accredited and offers a ‘Seaside’ class of powder coating as well as QUALIDECO which offers realistic finishes replicating such materials as wood. The latest addition to the specification options is QUALICOAT 3.0 which is a minimum recommendation for the quality of extruded aluminium, especially if it comprises of recycled content. Following Ivo’s introduction, delegates were treated to a masterclass in architectural aluminium specification by first keynote speaker, Michael Stacey from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. Michael explained how specified powder coating had begun to become mimetic, replicating such materials such as copper or terracotta in award winning designs. Michael emphasised that design durability was crucial and stated that coated aluminium could last 80 years or more given regular maintenance by simple ‘washing down’. Fire resistance of building envelopes over 11m in height has become a crucial over the last few years following the Grenfell Tower disaster. Naveen Sandhu, Specification Manager of AkzoNobel Powder Coatings, explained how correctly applied powder coatings comply with an EN 13501-1 classification of A2-s1,d0 is permissible under Part B Regulations for buildings over 18m (11m in Scotland). Naveen went onto describe the BS 8414 Test Methodology using full scale testing with assessment to BR 135 where powder
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2022 - 2023
read online: www.surfaceworld.com
