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A unique construction with fast assembly.
We use so called structural
insulated panels (SIPs) as a basis for our concept. These are high performance
building panels, which can be used in floors, walls, and roofs for residential,
light commercial buildings, storage halls or other applications. The panels are
made by sandwiching a core of expanded polystyrene (EPS) between two structural
boards (see material specification below). Building with this technique allows
us to custom design each building solution. The result is a building system that
is extremely strong, energy efficient and cost effective.
We have also developed a
small scale mobile factory and a unique construction and assembly technique
which completes the chain from panel production to delivering a housing system
and effective climate shell. The main components of our concept is described
here below.
A
Harcon house is a prefab concept of smaller or larger units of panels being
assembled on-site. Based on a concrete house foundation, Harcon elements are put
in place to form the outer walls. Concrete pillars are then poured in preformed
voids to form the construction frame. With a supporting beam in place and
relevant numbers of rafters the roof panels can be mounted. Putting up this
building shell and construction frame takes 2-3 days (given that the housing
base is in place).
At this point (beyond what
Harcon offers) the preferred roofing material (sheet metal, brick etc), doors,
windows, inner wall, electricity, plumbing etc. can be added to complete the
house.
Main advantages
- Simple and fast fabrication
- Wide field of application
- Stable
- Comfortable indoors climate
- Low energy performance
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Our unique sandwich element.
A unique sandwich panel consisting of a EPS (expanded polystyrene) core,
having one layer of surface board on each side of the polystyrene core.
Main advantages
- Outstanding insulation property (for low energy buildings)
- Low raw material costs
- Light weight
- Inorganic materials
- Surface board is fire and water proof
- Mold/ bug and fungus free
- Silica and asbestos free
- Advantages in hurricane and earthquake areas
The Harcon sandwich panels consist of a core (expanded polystyrene, EPS)
glued in a sandwich construction with two outer MgO (Magnesium oxide)
boards.
We have chosen this board (see description below) for our sandwich solution
due to its favourable product characteristics. One of the most important
features is however, its high fire protecting abilities for the fire sensitive
core material EPS. Using the MgO board as a “skin” combined with EPS as a core
material in the sandwich construction, combines the best of to worlds. A core
with outstanding thermal insulation properties and a protecting skin with
several protecting features as well as strength. The Harcon panel will in this
way withstand considerable heat and fire.
Expanded polystyrene (EPS)
EPS- Expanded polystyrene is comprised of 98% air and 2% polystyrene. The
styrene used in the creation process of polystyrene is commonly derived from
crude oil. However, styrene is present in natural vegetation such as fruits and
vegetables, wine and beans. This means that it is technically possible to
produce polystyrene from nature, even though it is economically not feasible today.Polystyrene is a thermoplastic substance, which is in solid state at room
temperature, but flows if heated above its glass transition temperature, and
becomes solid again when it cools off. Complete oxidation of polystyrene
produces only carbon dioxide and water vapour.
The raw material is a granular expanded in a foamer and then cast in a mold
under steam pressure into a block. After the storage the block is cut to desired
dimensions. The expanded and molded product shape is rigid and has a
micro-poroues structure. It’s closed cell system provides a low internal
convection, low air permeability and low water absorption. The aging resistance
is very good and the material completely resistant to root and fungi. EPS
foam is resistant to sea water, alcohol, strong and weak acids, and most animal
and vegetable oils. It is not affected by micro-organisms or bacteria. The
material has no corrosive effect. EPS foam is sensitive to petrol, petrol fumes
and some organic solvents and oils.EPS foam has good resistance to aging, but
will loose its good properties if exposed to UV – radiation.Since EPS plastic
foam has a closed cell structure means that very small amounts of water can be
absorbed. According to a standardized test method is the water absorption
maximum of 5 vol. % with the EPS foam contained under water in 28 days. The
EPS foam is an organic material and therefore combustible. However there must be
a heat source and access to oxygen. The air contained inside the EPS-cell
resin is not sufficient to enable combustion to continue.The maximum recommended
operating temperature is +80 ° C. After it starts EPS cellular plastic soften
but retain shape up to about +100 ° C. Harcon only used quality and
environmentally certified EPS suppliers.
Glue
When producing our sandwich panels we use a glue based on Silan Modified
Polymers (SMP). We have introduced a SMP based glue as an environmental
alternative to polyurethanes, since it is volatile organic (VOC) solvent free, isocyanate free, silicon free and PVC free. The mechanical characteristics
are equivalent or even better than polyurethane glues. The UV, weather and
temperature resistance are outperforming current state of the art technologies,
such as polyurethane. Our production speed has increased due to lowered
clamping time and minimisation of the number of required surface pretreatment
steps (e.g. using primer). It also has excellent paintability and cleaning of
gluing equipment is simple and fast using turpentine ( a natural oil destilled
from resins in trees). Some characteristics of the glue:
- PVC content 0%
- Solvent content 0%
- Isocyanate content 0%
- Temperature resistance -40°C to +90°C
- Application temperature +5°C to +35°C
- UV- and weather resistance: excellent
- Tensile strength 1,6 N/mm2 (ISO 37)
Board
The board is made of a mix of natural materials: Magnesium oxide (MgO),
Magnesium Chloride (MgCl2), fiber glass fabric, wood fiber,
water, talc and a catalyst. The board contains no organic solvents, no oils, no
toxic ingredient, no heavy metal salts, no asbestos. Very little energy is
consumed in manufacturing the board. The entire patented process is conducted at
room temperature and scraps or drop-offs are reground and used in the
production. As a construction material the board has several attractive
characteristics. It has very high fire resistance (inflammable) and due to its
high alkalinity (pH 11) it is bug resistant, moisture resistant and mold/mildew
resistant. The board also is strong and can handle rough treatment, which is favourable when handling the panels on construction sites. The boards
are reinforced with fiberglass on two sides for increased stability and
strength. The board has high impact resistance, and can tolerate fairly rough
treatment at construction sites. The board maintains its shape even
when exposed to variations in temperature and damp air. The board is easy to
process. It can be slit with a knife and broken as plasterboard or cut with
handsaw.
Harcon only use suppliers with product testings using certified
standards:
- Fire-Proof (UL 055 and ASTM E119-08a, BS 476)
- Waterproof (Freeze/Thaw-Tested for 36 months)
- Mold/Fungus/Bug Free (Non-nutrient to mold, fungus, insects ASTM
G-21)
- Impact-Resistant (ASTM D-5628)
- Silica/Asbestos Free
- Florida Hurricane Tested
Testing the board in accordance with section 5 of BS 476: Part 22: 1987 shows
that a 12 mm thick board maintains it insulation properties extremely
well. In the test the furnace heating the exposed surface starts at 200°C,
after 20 minutes its 800°C, further increasing the temperatur and levelling out
at 1000°C. The unexposed surface, which is glued to EPS, reaches 100° C
after 93 minutes and it maintains its strucutral integrity (no collapse) during
150 minutes.
Regarding the aspect of fire safety, the above said does not exclude that we
can offer our customers different board thicknesses, as this is a matter of
estimation of the risque for heat exposure in a given environment, during an
estimated time of exposure. This beeing said it is all a matter of evacuation
times when a house is set on fire. Feel free to come back to us with questions
about this. We are happy to guide you. |
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