One of the world's largest exhibitions of architecture, construction and materials BAU-2017, held in Munich, during a week of work from January 16 to 21, gathered more than 250 thousand visitors in its 17 pavilions, and more than 2,100 participants from 45 countries of the world presented their products on the square 185,000 square meters. The latest materials and technologies are exhibited at the exhibition in sections covering the whole range of topics of interest to professionals: steel, stone and brick, ceramics and floor coverings, wood and glass, locks and gates, information technology.
However, we will focus on trends in the use of aluminum for building envelopes and translucent structures, as well as on the engineering systems used in this.
By Dmitry Rachkov, Development Director of TATPROF JSC
Various materials
In structures, various combinations of materials are increasingly used for the production of translucent structures - windows, doors, stained-glass windows. Along with the traditional use of polyamides and PVC products in aluminum structures, used as thermal bridges for combined profiles, plastic elements are widely used, which are components of load-bearing structural elements. So, a plastic profile is used as a profile element in which the filling of the SPK is installed. Steel elements are more often used in places of structures subject to increased wear: runners for portal doors, clamping strips of stained-glass windows with large-sized filling.
To increase the thermal properties of structures, elements based on EPDM and rubber are used on the outer parts, foam elements are used to fill the inner cavities of the structures. Thus, aluminum structures become more heat-resistant and energy-efficient (for example, TATPROF has a TPT-95 series with the highest thermal performance characteristics).
The use of a combination of various materials in one structure allows to reduce its weight, to increase the manufacturability of assembly and installation by reducing or eliminating the need for additional processing, to increase the durability of the structure, and as a result, to reduce the cost of the final product for the consumer.
Specialization
The growth in the number of solutions presented at the exhibition, specialized on the requirements of specific groups of consumers, prepares the orientation of producers of SPK with the use of aluminum to narrow market segments with specific requirements for structures.
For example, there is a high percentage of system holders offering fire-resistant structures, constructions with specific access systems, allowing to restrict unauthorized access to the premises small children - installation on evacuation doors (mandatory for installation with childcare facilities), lock mechanisms at a level unattainable in height, while an adult of average height can easily open an evacuation door.
Numerous systems offer safe solutions for room ventilation by fixing the sash in the "airing" position, while opening the sash requires a sequence of actions that a small child will not guess. Some manufacturers offer to make flaps of such a width that it is possible to "stick" only a hand into it.
Drop-down threshold system allows, on the one hand, to provide protection from wind and sound, while in the open position there is no obstacle, for example, for the passage of a gurney in a hospital or a person in a wheelchair.
Automation
Among the solutions presented at the exposition, the number of systems is growing, allowing to automate various processes when
- designing
- making
- operation of translucent structures.
For example, solutions are presented to automate the following processes:
and. calculation processes and design of structures at the stage of development of the concept and design of the building … These are computer-aided design systems (for example, in Russia -
Tatprof-3D software), and systems for controlling changes and document circulation during construction and operation, and high-precision machining centers, and mechanisms for assembling finished structures - all of them, connected by a single information system, allow minimizing errors at all stages of work and increasing productivity during performing each action. In this case, manual labor is minimized and is reduced, most often, in the choice of the necessary program of action and periodic monitoring of the results at predetermined stages.
b. the process of automating the work of moving elements of windows and doors - automatic operation of the doors (for TATPROF - a portal door system with the possibility of automatic control of TPT-72 PS). Most of them can be controlled today using any mobile phone with the application installed. Remotely opening the front door for the courier who called at the door during your absence, turning on the heating before returning to the house, controlling the lighting level or controlling multimedia content - all this is available today to almost anyone.
in. Automation systems are also actively used in matters of indoor climate control … The combination of dynamic facades (System of sun-protection slats with a variable angle of inclination TP-50400) - facade systems with an adjustable level of "curtain" by changing the angle of inclination of blinds or opening of awnings - with a system of recuperation, ventilation and heating can significantly reduce energy costs and fine-tune microclimate of the premises according to your requirements.
Aluminum structures - for architecture and interiors
The use of large-sized structures, an increase in the percentage of glazing indicates a continuation of the trend of blurring the boundaries between external and internal space.
The frames of large doors and volumetric facades become narrower, hidden in walls or recessed into floors, thereby enhancing the feeling of an open, but at the same time "warm" space. At the stands of the overwhelming majority of manufacturers of aluminum systems, portal doors with the maximum number of openable elements (including opening corners) were presented, allowing, for example, to increase the area of the living room of your country house, visually adding to it the area of the veranda or loggia.
BAU-2017 Discussion Platforms: Rational Use of Home Space and Urban Planning
During all days of the exhibition, lectures and open discussions by leading European experts in architecture, design and construction were held in a separate pavilion under the auspices of Investing in the Future and at the equipped sites of the main pavilions. I was able to visit some of them.
Rational use of space. In the context of a decrease in the number of square meters for each living person, there is a tendency to increase the rationality of the use of space. This applies both to the interior space and to the location of apartment buildings within the quarter.
For example, the most efficient use of natural light is being promoted - window blocks of the maximum size, the device of a second light, zoning with furniture, and not partitions.
When designing the location of buildings in the formation of residential development from apartment buildings, it is proposed to abandon the standard row (or orthogonal) arrangement of houses. The non-standard arrangement allows, after preliminary calculations, to increase the access of sunlight to the premises, as well as to get rid of the view from the window “on the wall of the neighboring house”. The mutual arrangement of houses with each other allows to provide a "perspective" view, that is, part of the visible space can be oriented towards the neighboring house (but not at a right angle), and some should "go out" to the long-term perspective - distant houses, a quarter passage, etc. …
It is proposed to abandon the use of numerous fences and barriers separating the courtyards of residential buildings from each other, ensuring the possibility of organizing a single block space. It is proposed to widely use road markings to mark the boundaries of the quarter. In addition, the use of unconventional materials as structural materials is popularized. One of the most striking examples was a building in the center of a small European town, which used walls of glass bricks - specially made glass blocks, some of which were transparent, and some were painted in the color of traditional dark bricks to “fit” into the existing space. Thus, the authors of the project managed to achieve a harmonious placement of the ultra-modern building in the line of existing traditional buildings.
Summing up
The proposed solutions are aimed at improving the quality of life and professional activity through the development of new materials, mechanization and automation tools, deeper application of software to improve the efficiency of applied solutions and minimize possible collisions in construction.
Some of the technologies presented have undoubtedly found or will find their application on real objects. In European countries, they will most likely begin to be widely used in the very near future. For Russia, the solutions proposed at the exhibition are undoubtedly interesting as a guideline for determining the vector of development of architecture, construction and automation. Applying them is probably
will become widespread after rethinking and adapting to domestic conditions and realities.
