According to the
U.S. Green Building Council, buildings account for as much as 72 percent of electricity consumption, 39 percent of energy use, 38 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions and 30 percent of waste output. With governments, businesses and homeowners embracing sustainability for economic and environmental reasons, these statistics serve as a driving force for the construction industry to adopt more sustainable building practices, including using advanced materials such as silicones.
Silicones stand up to extreme temperatures, harsh chemicals, rain, snow, salt spray, ultraviolet radiation, ozone and acid rain, which results in lower maintenance costs. Since their introduction to the construction industry in the 1960s, silicones have gained a solid reputation for offering strength and superior design flexibility with a variety of substrates, including glass, plastic, granite, stone and aluminum, as well as a life expectancy three times longer than organic carbon-based alternatives.
As efforts are made to reduce energy usage, architects and engineers are finding more applications. For example, structural silicone adhesives, rather than metal fasteners, can be used to attach glass, ceramic, metal, stone or composite panels to a building’s frame. This creates a continuous flexible rubber anchor that absorbs stress and prevents air and water intrusion. Only silicone sealants possess the unique combination of strength, flexibility and weather resistance required for structural glazing applications.
Today’s silicone adhesives and sealants also make it possible to design buildings that incorporate larger expanses of glass, which are more aesthetically appealing and bring more daylight inside buildings, reducing the need for artificial lighting and thermal insulation. Silicones also go into concrete admixtures, which are used to treat substrates and help reduce two leading causes of structural heat loss: thermal conductivity and water evaporation.
In addition to their performance advantages, use of certain silicone sealants can contribute to earning specific LEED credits, including the LEED 2009 for New Construction and Major Renovations rating systems.
Silicones can play an important role in retrofitting the vast number of existing buildings that are unlikely to meet government targets for sustainability. They also can help improve the energy efficiency of buildings in places such as Seattle; San Francisco; New York; Washington, D.C.; Austin, Texas; and throughout California that require, or are about to require, building owners to report how much energy they use.
Sustainable building practices require the collaboration of all project partners. As sustainability challenges become more complex, the public and private sectors must show their commitment to and investment in accelerating innovation and improving the performance and lifespan of buildings. The construction industry must continue to partner with federal agencies such as the
U.S. Department of Energy, national code organizations, and state and local officials to encourage the use of new and sustainable building technologies.