Sealing the Deal

from PRC Magazine #99 ( Architecture | Building | Construction )

Building on a Legacy (L&O 145 Years)

SEALING THE DEAL

DOW (NYSE: DOW) COMBINES ONE OF THE BROADEST TECHNOLOGY SETS IN THE INDUSTRY WITH ASSET INTEGRATION, FOCUSED INNOVATION AND GLOBAL SCALE TO ACHIEVE PROFITABLE GROWTH AND BECOME THE MOST INNOVATIVE, CUSTOMER CENTRIC, INCLUSIVE AND SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS SCIENCE COMPANY.

DOW’S PORTFOLIO OF PERFORMANCE MATERIALS, INDUSTRIAL INTERMEDIATES AND PLASTICS BUSINESSES DELIVERS A BROAD RANGE OF DIFFERENTIATED SCIENCE-BASED PRODUCTS AND SOLUTIONS FOR OUR CUSTOMERS IN HIGH-GROWTH SEGMENTS, SUCH AS PACKAGING, INFRASTRUCTURE AND CONSUMER CARE. DOW OPERATES 113 MANUFACTURING SITES IN 31 COUNTRIES AND EMPLOYS APPROXIMATELY 37,000 PEOPLE. DOW DELIVERED PRO FORMA SALES OF APPROXIMATELY $50 BILLION IN 2018.

Dow Corning ®

brand products are now DOWSIL™ brand known in the façade industry for revolutionising the way architects and fabricators design commercial façades. Dow does not sell glass, or aluminium frames, nor window or curtain walls, but it does supply the silicones that are the connecting bonding technology that structurally bonds, weatherproofs and protect façades on many of the largest and most striking architectural landmarks around the world.

Through more than five decades of proven performance in Silicone Structural Glazing (SSG) and Weatherproofing Sealants (WP), today customers can continue to rely on the same trusted silicone chemistries, features and product benefits under its new DOWSIL™ name. Indeed, the new DOWSIL™ product name represents the combined power of Dow and Dow Corning and emphasises its longstanding global expertise in silicone technologies across dozens of industries as it continues to push the limits of its materials to meet the challenges presented by architects and façade engineers alike.

LATEST TRENDS

As the world becomes evermore urbanised, more mega tall skyscrapers are emerging around the world. One example where Dow’s latest technology was used is the 650m high Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in China today and second in the world. With challenges relating to height, in the world of façades the structure needs to be designed to meet high wind loads, seismic requirement and glass movement, as well as regular typhoons. Dow’s enabling technologies for this project included structural glazing and weatherproofing sealants.

In the case of the world’s future tallest building, the 1km high Jeddah Tower, sealants were not only designed to withstand the climate, but also super high winds of up to 400km/hour. Here, the unrivalled elastic recovery and UV resistant properties of its silicone shows how Dow continues to push boundaries.

With energy regulations and climate policy targets also establishing strict requirements for future buildings, installing systems that protect the building envelope from weather and ensuring that the building’s internal climate and living conditions can be maintained or improved is becoming increasingly important. The new DOWSIL™ range now offers two additional routes to improve the challenge of heat loss. Indeed, by using a higher modulus insulating glass sealant, Dow is able to reduce the sealant bite and heat transmission in the edge seal by up to 30% while further reducing the sealant bite to offer the aesthetic advantage by up to 5% more on glazed areas.

The new EDPM Membrane Façade System, which is safe and easy to cut into shape and install and provides a smooth solution for vertical surfaces and ensures a secure closure of the building envelope. It is also designed to meet with energy regulations and climate policy requirements it combats gaps in construction openings created for fenestration systems that must be properly sealed to avoid convectional heat

Shanghai Tower (Stock image)

Agricultural Bank of China Headquarters and China Constriction Bank Headquarters, Shanghai

Image courtesy of Architectonica

Tianjin CTF Finance Centre (Online image)

losses through air leakage and moisture entry points. It also helps to increase the service life and long-term performance of Dow EPDM raw materials. Used alongside the brand’s 300 Adhesive, which offers a complete high performance solution for the creation of interior and exterior weather and airtight seals, Dow’s offering is a flexible seal that protects areas including sharp angles and corners and seals across adjacent building elements.

DOWSIL™ membranes also tolerate normal building movement and inclement weather conditions, providing a smooth solution for vertical surfaces and ensuring a secure closure of the building envelope. The DOWSIL™ Warm edge IG sealant, works to optimise thermal performance and reduce the risk of condensation and mou0.ld. As a structural glazing sealant, it is a simplified solution that eliminates the need for specialised pumps and mixing equipment while minimising quality assurance issues.

In addition, Dow offers façade cladding and rain screen systems, which provide a solution for renovations and insulations installed behind panels in order to improve façade performance. Just one example of a project including aluminium panels that uses this technique for cladding is The Portal in Bangkok. Here, the challenges arising from the complexity of its design and cost considerations relating to workmanship and installation, as well as potential problems relating to vibration and acoustics, were addressed through Dow’s bonding technology. Here, Dow worked closely with the architect, consultant and contractor to achieve positive outcomes in terms of cost and quality and successfully reduced the estimated completion time of prefabricated construction from five months to three months.

Launching soon is DOWSIL™’s modified silicone sealant, a hybrid isocyanates and solvent free technology that offers excellent paintability with water-based an synthetic paints, and adhesion to most building materials including stone, aluminium, PC board, ceramics and precast concrete. In addition, a crystal clear spacer reacts to a primed surface and adheres well to materials including glass, anodized aluminium and PVC. Dow is also actively commercialising the latest silicone and non-silicone technologies for sprayable air and weather barrier solutions, silicone structural adhesives for panel bonding in rain screen facades, as well as reactive hot melt adhesive for window assembly and a new range of crystal clear silicone products for point fixed glazing, internal partition and glass bonding.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT SERVICES PROGRAM

As well as its products, Dow prides itself on the quality of its customer. Its most recent additions are its Quality Bond Program and a new project management services program that offers free online calculators to simplify construction planning. While it cannot replace calculations and approvals from Dow, its structural glazing and insulating glass calculator and sealant usage estimator provides a web-based project management solution previously unmet in the industry. Known as COOL 2.0 it works to facilitate information sharing, collaboration and project planning. Fast, free and easy to use, it also allows customers to create and own its own project database, upload blueprints for review, request lab testing and warranties and review all ongoing projects. It also allows customers to examine lab-testing histories and tap into the collective expertise of Dow’s global network of silicone building material experts.

SEEK TOGETHER™

Seek Together™ has been trademarked by Dow to describe their collaboration program with architects, engineers, building design and material manufacturers around the globe to address high performance building challenges. As such, it brings together technology, design support, expertise and quality.

The company also continues to improve their services through their digitalization of processes, to provide and efficient way to communicate with customers and stakeholders within the value chain.

Finally, the recent announcement that Dow has been making close to 10,000 products available for intuitive search in one location, where important documents such as technical data are just a click away, marks another of its commitment to furthering customer communication.

On 16 September, 2019, dow.com has been integrating updated content to represent Dow’s full product offering. Languages will include English with select Chinese and Japanese pages at launch, full Chinese and Japanese by end 2019. The website will be available in Portuguese and Spanish by the end of the first quarter of 2020, with other languages added as needed.