ANALYSIS: Adhesives and professional sealants for high performance windows

Since the materials used in the buildings have very long periods of operation, special attention should be paid to their selection process of the plenty of products offered on the market, depending on the specifics of each application separately. In this context, it is vital to formulate an option for the appropriate solutions, to ensure high levels of sealing and gluing. The range of available products is very large. Also, from a legal standpoint, most traditional formulations contained in regulations for energy efficiency refer to the so-called "conditional requirements", meaning that any action taken must be correctly applied to achieve the expected results. Therefore, both in terms of microeconomic and macroeconomic, this perspective is very carefully monitored by experts to optimize and to guarantee the maximum useful effects. For buildings which require immediate work to improve the energy performance, efficiency can only be achieved by increasing the quality of individual systems. This means even more restrictive requirements for each of these elements. The heat transfer coefficient for windows is likely to fall below the maximum level of 1.2 W / mpK in the next period and at the planned interim deadline (year 2020) stipulated in the directive of energy efficiency of buildings - EPBD  the average level will be placed about 1 W/mpK in order to achieve a positive balance in the resource consumption. In this lies the most significant business opportunity for European window industry, and hence for the materials used in the execution of carpentry. Architects, designers, engineers, builders, and contractors will be obliged to pay attention to these issues, focusing on technological innovations in materials, including in installation solutions of the assemblies (polyurethane foam, silicones and other sealants and professional adhesives) which could contribute to the common effort to enhance the quality of the finished product. To get the expected results, it is necessary to change the mentality at all levels and to adopt alternative solutions, which have already demonstrated their capability to provide net improvements in thermal conductivity plan.