Recently, a global effort of the construction industry has been observed to achieve more sustainability and circularity in design, aligned with legislative requirements such as the ESPR or the EU Green Deal. This presentation will review the impact of silicones at various levels of a sustainable design. It is well known that the use of silicone sealants strongly contributes toward a durable air and water tight building envelope and enables energy saving multi pane glazing. Both applications significantly contribute to improving energy efficiency and hence reducing the operational carbon of a façade. The benefit during the lifetime of the building outweighs several times the carbon emissions required during the production of these silicones, especially when using the DOWSIL™ Carbon-Neutral Silicones Service for façade applications. Furthermore, silicones can also contribute at other levels of a sustainable design, such as material efficiency. Silicone bonding can help reduce resource use, such as aluminium used for frames. Silicones as bonding system are easier to disassemble at end of life compared to more rigid assembly methods and allow reuse of valuable materials.
Philippe Willareth
Silicones – an important enabler of sustainable design
Company: Lüchinger+Meyer Bauingenieure AG
About the speaker:
Philippe Willareth is Partner at Lüchinger+Meyer Bauingenieure AG and heading the façade engineering department.
After graduating as façade engineer at Lucerne University 2004, Philippe Willareth was affiliated with Whitbybird London working on various international projects, Lucerne University building up the façade competence centre and joining Lüchinger+Meyer 2009. The focus of his work developed from challenging all glass and lightweight façades more and more into inspiring sustainability façades.
Furthermore, Philippe Willareth is on the board of the Swiss Façade Association and member of the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects SIA occupational group technic (BGT).
