Optimizing Building Energy Efficiency through High-performance Facades
Heat Gain through Aluminium Frames
Aluminium windows are commonly used in both commercial and residential buildings: they are easy to fabricate, have good mechanical strength and visually appealing. However, aluminium is a good conductor of heat, which results in significant heat gain through the framing member. This means that a higher cooling load is required to cool the building down.
To overcome this, we can tap on the use of a thermal break, which separates the interior and exterior aluminium sections and prevents the conduction of heat due to its thermal insulating material.
Technoform thermal break profiles are made of glass-fibre reinforced polyamide (PA66 GF25), an engineering plastic with:
- Low thermal conductivity (~533 times lower than aluminum)
- Excellent mechanical properties
Thermal performance improvement
We conducted a thermal simulation and through the use of a thermally broken system, the frame performance has improved by over 70% from 17.1W/m2K to 3.2W/m2K.
If you have any upcoming projects, we can support you with a thermal simulation report to show the performance improvement with the use of thermally broken system. Contact us here.
Window systems development
Frame U-value improves with increasing width of the thermal break, and will also be affected by other factors, such as the shape of the thermal break. Technoform offers more than 800 freely available geometries to suit your requirements.
We are also the expert in thermal zone engineering for windows, doors and facades. We can provide relevant support such as U-value simulations for your project needs, and support the design and optimization of your drawings.
Benefits of thermally broken window systems
Increasing value of your windows
Thermally broken systems offer massive energy reduction potential, playing a key role in a building’s energy concept. More importantly, it is also a key passive design strategy, which allows for energy savings to be reaped over the entire lifespan of the façade.
With rising energy costs coupled with the impacts of climate change, we can help you value-add your customers by ensuring cost-savings through the use of high-performance facades.
Outstanding quality as a result of our high-precision extrusion expertise
With over 5 decades of know-how on high-precision extrusion, we can ensure fast production of profiles with outstanding production quality: geometries with minimal tolerances, ultra-smooth surfaces for guaranteed precision and observance of precise specifications to suit your every need and requirement.
Future-proofing your facades
Our core competence? Making your system future-ready. Over the years, building energy performance requirements have been raised significantly and there has been an increased demand for more energy-efficient solutions and technologies.
You can tap on high-performance thermal break solutions to significantly enhance the performance of your facades, ensuring that you are well-prepared to cope with the needs of increasingly stringent building regulations.
Over 800 standard profiles for various markets and needs
We offer more than 800 freely available geometries for various markets and needs. You can always rely on high quality solutions in any length and quantity you need – wherever you are. With 14 global production sites and 45 sales offices around the world, we make sure we are always near you.
Have a specific request? We also offer customized profiles to suit your needs.
Stringent testing to ensure the highest quality
Why is a good thermal break important?
The use of a thermal break with inferior quality may result in cracks or even breakage during the assembly process. With a good quality thermal break as well as proper execution of the assembly processes, it will ensure a good shear strength for an assembled thermally broken aluminum profile.
In addition, a good thermal break is critical in allowing the facade to serve its intended design use and lifespan, ensuring the safety and durability of the facade. This is especially since building facades are constantly exposed to environmental loads such as wind and temperature changes. Hence, the frames will undergo behavior changes including bending and shearing, and it is important to ensure the mechnical properties of the assembled profiles.
Quality is key for us
We have always been dedicated to testing our products to the core, providing various checking and testing procedures to guarantee a product of highest quality - always. Globally, we adhere to the most stringent standards, ensuring consistent quality in all our products.
Our plants worldwide are also ISO 9001 certified. Thanks to the standardization of the processes, our products can be made in any of our production plants with no variation in quality.
Transversal Tensile Test
Reference standard: EN ISO 14024
Our product performance:
Significance: External facades are in constant exposure to wind and temperature loading, which will cause tensile stress. It is important to test the assembled profiles to ensure its mechanical performance under these environmental loads.
To simulate temperatures in different seasons, the transversal tensile test is conducted at low temperatures of up to -20 degrees, and high temperatures of up to 80 degrees to ensure that the assembled profiles are still performing as per mechanically designed under extreme temperatures.
Transversal Tensile Test (Ageing)
Reference standard: EN ISO 14024
Our product performance: Δh ≤ 1 mm
Significance: As time passes with constant wind and temperature loading, it is also important to ensure that there is minimal elongation from the assembled profile. Hence, an deformation aging test method under loading is conducted at 80 degrees for 1,000 hours to ensure that there is less than 1mm in elongation.
At Technoform, our use of high quality materials ensures that the profile elongation after aging is below the requirement of 1mm.
Shear Strength Test
Reference standard: EN ISO 14024
Our product performance: TcNRT ≥ 24 N/mm
Significance: Besides tensile stress acting on the façade, longitudinal stresses are also present due to the difference in temperature between the external and internal frame. As a thermally broken frame’s advantage is to isolate the heat on one side of the frame, the heat trapped may increase the frame temperature to as high as 80 degrees, causing expansion which might lead to shearing. Hence, it is important a conduct tests and ensure the assembled profile is able to withstand the shearing effect.
In EN14024, loading is placed on two ends of the aluminum profiles at a slow feed rate and the measurement is recorded.
Glass fibre purity check
Significance: After conducting various tests on different materials, PA66 GF25 has been found to be the ideal choice for thermal break profiles. This hybrid material is a combination of Polyamide 66 with 25% glass fibre content acting as the strengthening agent.
Technoform uses long virgin glass fibre to ensures good mechanical properties. We also tap on decades long knowledge and technology to successfully weave the long chain of fibres into the polyamide, allowing for excellent mechanical strength that meets and even go beyond the requirements of global standards.
I want to use your thermal break in my window and facade systems. How can I start?
Keen to incorporate our thermal break profiles in your window and facade systems? Or perhaps you are looking to develop your own thermally broken systems? We would love to get in touch with your team for a discussion!
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