China Mosaic and Tile Professional Supplier
Flickr Site of Leiyuan Industrial Co.,Ltd.--Follow now!! Linkedin Site of Leiyuan Industrial Co.,Ltd.--Follow now!! Blog of Leiyuan Industrial Co.,Ltd.--Follow now!! Facebook Site of Leiyuan Industrial Co.,Ltd.--Follow now!!
3/31/2016 7:52:45 PM

What European Markets Can Teach Us about Low-Energy, Low-Carbon Construction(4/20/2012)


If you focus only on the reasons why European home builders are a decade or more ahead of the United States in the quality and performance of sustainable housing, you'll miss the available, proven, and affordable technologies and tactics that can travel over the Atlantic to close that gap.

To be sure, a heavier (and accepted) dose of government regulation, more stringent (and mandated) energy-use and carbon-emission standards, and a deeply embedded cultural ethos that champion the collective good over individual aspirations all seem as foreign (and frightening) to American builders as wearing a kilt and eating the traditional Scottish dish haggis-and something they are even less likely to try.

But political and social differences aside, there's a lot to be learned and applied from the European model of low-energy and low-carbon, yet comfortable and durable, residential design and construction. All it takes is a better understanding and some American initiative to bring it across the pond.

Off-Site Construction
How Europeans define "off-site" or factory-built housing differs greatly from the "component framing" manufacturing that is employed in the United States.

Gerry McCaughey, who previously owned Kingspan Century, a SIPs-based, whole-house building system manufacturer in Ireland that produces 8,000 units a year, likens it to the difference between crafting a Mercedes and supplying steel to the factory. He bemoans the American model of local lumberyards providing open-frame roof trusses and wall panels that are assembled on site by stick-trained framing crews.

"It's just a way for lumberyards to sell more sticks, not produce housing," he says, and certainly not to a higher performance or environmental standard.

The European model, which accounts for about 30% of all new housing in England and perhaps 70% in Ireland, with similar market shares across the European Union, delivers precision that can't be matched in the field. "In Europe, it's an accepted fact that factory-controlled conditions result in higher quality," he says. "And the higher the energy- and carbon-efficiency standards, the harder they are to achieve with on-site construction."

In the United States, HUD-code and modular home shipments combined for 10% of the new-housing pie in 2010, a share that's falling despite a greater emphasis on green building at a lower price point.

The key is accuracy through automation. Kingspan Century, for one, achieves framing tolerances equal to the width of a thumbnail, and its machines perfectly shoot six nails a second to secure a sheathing panel¡ªa speed that enables the manufacturer to double the number of fasteners beyond the code-required pattern to deliver a stronger and airtight structure. "In the factory, the saw blade always comes down on the correct side of the line," says McCaughey.

It doesn't end there. European housing manufacturers are one-stop shops for entire home packages, at least to the drywall stage inside and the application of exterior finishes.

In addition to certified, four-man crews that can dry-in a two-story, 2,000-square-foot house in a day, companies deliver and stage drywall stacks across the slab and second-floor floor deck before the walls arrive, among other efficiencies that save time and reduce construction waste, the latter by perhaps 40%.

To match that performance, says McCaughey, American companies must accept and apply the whole package and philosophy of European automated home production. "The technology and machinery is available, but it's just a tool," he says. "You have to tell it what to do, and that means engineers instead of framers in the factory. It's a fundamental difference."

(Author Mosaic and Tile, China Leiyuan 4/20/2012)



Previous News:
Affordable Luxury(4/19/2012)

Next News:
Product Preview: 2012 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show(4/22/2012)

China Mosaic and Tile Professional Supplier
COPYRIGHT 2016, LEIYUAN INDUSTRIAL COMPANY LIMITED
Tel:+86 595 28832697,22788697 Fax:+86 595 22778697 E-mail:sales@leiyuan.cn export@tileexport.com
TILEexport.com in Your Language

China Tile and Mosaic Supplier,Ceramic Tile,Glass Mosaic,Mosaic Tiles Supplier and Exporter from China.

Terracotta Panels

Terracotta Panel for Wall Cladding

Main Products

Mosaic, Glass Mosaic, China Mosaic, swimming pool mosaic, ceramic mosaic, porcelain mosaics ,Crystal Glass Mosaic, Rustic Tile Mosaic, Glazed Ceramic Mosaic, Conch Shell Mosaic, Coconut shell Mosaic, Metal Foil Mosaic, Fusible Glass Mosaic, Golden Line Star Mosaic, Swimming Pool Mosaic Tile, Stone Mosaic, Marble Mosaic, Porcelain Mosaics, Ceramic Mosaic, Mosaic Patterns, Mosaic Border and more. Manufacturers and Suppliers in China (mainland).

Mosaic

Sell Floor Tile - Ceramic  Tile, Porcelain Tiles, Rustic Floor Tile, Vitrified Tiles, Hexagon Floor Tile, Terracotta Tile, Clay Floor Tiles and more. Manufacturers and Suppliers in China (mainland).

Floor Tile

Sell Roof Tile - Colored Roofing Tile, Ceramic Roof Tiles, Clay Roof Tiles, Terracotta Roof Tile, Shingle Roofing, Ceramic Baluster, Spanish Type Roof Tile, Japan Type Roof Tile, Glazed Roof Tile, Heat Insulation Roof Tile, Ceramic Catena Roof Tile, Interlocking Roof Tile, Double Barrel Interlocking Roof Tile and the accessories Ridge Tile, Ridge End Tile, Hip Tile, Two Way Forked Ridge, Three Way Forked Ridge, Valley Gutter and more. Manufacturers and Suppliers in China (mainland).

Roof Tile

Sell Cultured Stone, Cultural Stone, Culture Stone, Man-made Culture Brick, Ancient Brick, Wall Brick, Art Stone, Exterior Wall Tile, External Wall Tiles, Clay Split Brick and more. Manufacturers and Suppliers in China (mainland).

Cultured Stone

Glazed Exterior Wall tile, unglazed exterior wall tile, clay split tile and bricks etc. From the smallest size 23X23mm to the largest one 400X800mm exterior wall tiles.

Exterior Wall Tile

The three times burning craft close union making the crystal polished tile anti-slip, health care massage, acid and alkali resistibility. crystal polished tile is suitable for the different fitment places, because it can combine each kind of designs together. Widely used in guesthouses, hotels, entertainment centers, bath centers, upscale villas as well as the family fitment on platform, aisle, and background wall and so on. It enables each place all turn out to be fashion and perfect.

crystal polished tile

Sell Kitchen and Bathroom Tiles - kitchen Tile, Bathroom Tile, Border Tile, Decorative Tile, Rustic Tile, Super Shinning Tile, Glass Tile, Glossy Tile, Listello Border Tile, Emboss Border Tile, Glazed Tile, Porcelain Tile, Ceramic Tile, Floor Tile, Wall Tile, Mosaic Tile, Skirting Tiles, Hollow Glass Block and more. Manufacturers and Suppliers in China (mainland).

Kitchen and Bathroom

We supply Glass Block, Hollow Glass Brick, Glass Paver Block, Artistic Blocks from China and Thailand.

Glass Block

Hot Products


Mosaic_Others_Resin_Mosaics
PG-05

Mosaic_Porcelain_Glaze_Crystalline_Glaze_Mosaic
CM-515

Wall_Tile_Glossy_Ceramic_Tile_2
45031

Mosaic_Crystal_Glass_Polychrome_Mosaic
L231-A01

Roof_Tile_Clay_Spanish_Roof_Tile
S3100

Mosaic_Crystal_Glass_Golden_and_Slivery_Mosaic
JA-13

Mosaic_Others_Resin_Mosaics
PG-02

Mosaic_Fusible_Glass_Mixed_Color_Mosaic
EM02

Mosaic_Crystal_Glass_Arch_Mosaic
YST04

Wall_Tile_Glossy_Ceramic_Tile_2
45005

Floor_Tile_Ceramic_Tile_300X600mm
36501

Mosaic_Crystal_Glass_Glass_and_Marble_Mixed
SHD-1501