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Updates of the Façade and Fenestration Industry 2019

By: C Kukreja, CP Kukreja Architects

CMC Launches One of the Rarest Natural Stones

Classic Marble Company (CMC) has introduced a new natural stone ‘Spiderment’ – one of the finest marble products, from its 9th Avenue gallery collection. The newly launched natural stone is one of the rarest and most exquisite natural marble found on earth.

Spiderment is a white marble, displaying a dark brown vein emerging from one edge, and subtly extricating on the other side to create a spectacular abstract piece of art. The unusual stone is embellished with dark and light orange veins and mottles. The classic marble surface with an orange and brown mix creates a mesmerising visual for the walls. A book-matching of the design further beautifies its appearance making it no less than a piece of fine art for any space.
9th Avenue is CMC’s exclusive collection of the rarest and most exquisite natural stones found on earth. These first-choice materials are showcased at CMC’s boutique gallery in Silvassa. The products are handpicked varieties of choicest stones sourced from across the world by a highly experienced team of stonologists.

CP Kukreja Architects Acquires the Indian Arm of dbHMS

CP Kukreja Architects, one of the leading architectural firms in India, has acquired the Indian arm of Chicago-based renowned design firm dbHMS. dbHMS started its operations in India in 2010 and was a part of many prestigious projects. The firm has two verticals – sustainability and engineering. CP Kukreja Architects has become the first Indian architecture firm to acquire an international design firm.
This acquisition will help CP Kukreja Architects expand its operations and further focus on sustainable infrastructure in India. It will also give a massive boost to the firm’s vision of environmentally friendly buildings which in India have received limited attention.
“We are delighted that we are able to bring this world-class expertise to our clients in India. The country is poised for unprecedented development in the years to come and it is important that the foundation of our work is based on sustainability and environmentally responsible design”, said Dikshu.

BEE Urges AP to Bring Residential Buildings Under ECBC

Chief Secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh, AC Punetha, has recently reviewed the power sector and said that the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has urged the state to consider bringing residential buildings under the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC).
Punetha also issued directions to all government departments in Andhra Pradesh to implement energy efficiency measures on a priority basis. He said the government was promoting energy efficiency activities as part of the second phase of power sector reforms to provide cost-effective and quality power.
The chief secretary was addressing the eighth executive committee and the fifth annual general body meeting of the AP State Energy Conservation Mission (APSECM).
AP is the first state in the country to retrofit the LED street lights in the municipal sector. The state has already retrofitted 6.21 lakh street lights in 110 urban local bodies and saved about 133 million units. About 20% of energy can be saved from commercial buildings following the ECBC norms.

Scientists Develop Smart Window to Trap Air Pollutants

Scientists have developed flexible smart windows that can trap air pollutants and can also keep the indoors free from harmful matters. Tuning the light intensity and reducing the concentration of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) in commercial buildings are both crucial to keeping indoor people comfortable and healthy. Smart windows fabricated on flexible and transparent silver (Ag)-nylon electrodes can tune the light intensity entering commercial buildings to maintain thermal comfort. However, fabricating a large-scale transparent smart window for high-efficiency PM2.5 capture has been a significant challenge, until now, researchers said. Scientists led by YU Shuhong from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) developed a simple solution-based process to fabricate large flexible, transparent windows for that can efficiently capture PM2.5.
Recently, a research team led by Prof. YU Shuhong from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) has developed a simple process to fabricate 7.5 m2 Ag-nylon flexible transparent windows for high-efficiency PM2.5 capture with only about 15.03 dollars and 20 minutes.

The obtained Ag-nylon window material serves not only to turn the indoor light intensity into thermochromic smart windows after being uniformly coated with thermochromic dye but also to purify indoor air as a high-efficiency PM2.5 filter.
The stability of the obtained material is also outstanding. Its performance remains stable after 10,000 bending cycles. In addition, even after 100 cycles of PM filtration and cleaning process, it still exhibits a removal efficiency of 99.65%.

Lioli Ceramica Introduces a Multi-Purpose Porcelain Slab

Lioli Ceramica has introduced its latest TechnoSLAB product “Mountain Tortora” under the Mountain series. This newly launched dark brown porcelain slab features beautiful brown mountain ranges on the flat surface. The slab is 6 mm thick, 4 ft. x 8 ft. (1200 mm x 2400 mm). It comes in a matte finish and the product is low on maintenance, extremely sturdy and yet lightweight.
The subtle mounting pattern on the product lends depth and tranquillity to contemporary living spaces. Ideal for interior and exterior cladding applications, Mountain Tortora is a multi-purpose product that can be used in flooring and countertop applications as well.

The Mountain Tortora is a new-age porcelain product that is 10 times harder than marble but light in weight, making it easy to handle. Hygienic, non-porous, scratch-resistant, and fire-resistant, the product checks against all the desired qualities. The TechnoSLAB is a range of porcelain slabs manufactured using state-of-the-art technology that encompasses all the qualities required for great aesthetics and longevity in function.

TrosifolTM Unveils Next Generation of SentryGlas® Ionoplast Interlayer

Trosifol™ has launched SentryGlas® XtraTM (SGX™). This new product improves lamination processing efficiency and also removes a number of the processing requirements placed on laminators. The result is a high-quality
laminate construction that delivers the outstanding operational performance synonymous with the SentryGlas® brand. Trosifol™ is the global leader in PVB and ionoplast interlayers for laminated safety glass in the architectural segment.
With this product, adhesion to the air side of glass has been significantly improved too, with an adhesion primer no longer being required, making multiple-ply laminated glass assemblies easier to process. There is also the potential to increase the number of laminates in autoclaves, increasing throughput efficiency.
Hurricane system designers and manufacturers will benefit from the robust adhesion offered by the new interlayer, which offers the possibility of incorporating higher design pressures, larger glass sizes and a reduced need for retesting when there are challenging design requirements.
The new material will be available in sheet form in a range of film thicknesses. Rolls will be available later in 2019. SentryGlas® Xtra™ complies with global safety glazing codes including ANSZ97.1, EN14449, EN12543, EN12600, and EN356 and is SGCC listed.