Company
Foiltec designs, engineers, and manufactures Texlon Foil Systems, one of the most innovative roofing / cladding solutions available. No other system matches Texlon´s transparency and durability, and its lightweight or insulating properties. It is an intelligent and dynamic system that has the capability to adjust its shading, thermal, and aesthetic characteristics as the sun moves across the sky, responding to specific program and climatic requirements.
From resort centers to factories, hospitals to malls, zoos, and museums Texlon Foil Systems liberate the most varled of programs from the constraints of standard cladding systems into light-filled dynamic space.
For more than 20 years FOILTEC has been turning conceptual ideas into reality with an unparalleled ability to respond to a specific need with an innovative and cost effective solution.
Projects
National Swimming Centre 2008, Beijing, China
The design known as the “watercube” is based on the geometry of soap bubbles crystallized within a rectangular form. The design team based this structural concept on Weaire and Phelan’s - two Irish Professors of Physics – solution to the problem of “What shape would soap bubbles in a continuous array of soap bubbles be?”
“The structure appears random and playful like a natural system, yet is mathematically very rigorous and repetitious. The transparency of water, with the mystery of the bubble system, engages those both inside and out of the structure to consider their own experiences with water” Andrew Frost – PTW
The Texlon ETFE System will be utilized as a double layer skin for the entire building envelope as well as internal partitions between various spaces and programs. The skin allows the complex to act as a massive greenhouse capitalizing on and harnessing the power of the sun to passively heat the building and the pool water. It is estimated that this sustainable concept will reduce the energy consumption of the facility by twenty percent.
In total there is over 1,000,000 square feet of ETFE foil in this project making it the single largest ETFE structure in the world. Installation of the Texlon ETFE System started in the Spring of 2006.
The Eden Project Cornwall, UK
In his time, Buckminster Fuller, the great pioneer and mentor of innovative architectural and structuralvisions, dreamed of roofing over entire cities to create new and exciting living spaces. Today, Texlon Foil Systems can turn this concept into reality, creating breathtak- ing indoor spaces, like the Eden Project. Architect Nicholas Grimshaw sought to create an innovative enclosure for a tropi- cal rain forest and Mediterran- nean biosphere more than 260 feet deep into a clay pit. The outcome is a series of intersect- ing geodesic dome structures covering an area of 323,000 square feet. The Eden Project is the world's largest self-sup- ported transparent envelope, with individual panels up to 860 square feet in area. 232 panels are intelligently controlled and operable for ventilation.
Technical
Advantages of TEXLON Foil Systems
- exceptional light transmission
- UV transparency
- active solar shading
- outstanding insulation
- catalyst for natural ventilation
- ecologically friendly / energy efficient
- acoustically transparent
- long-span / any shape capabilities
- fire self-venting
- extreme durability
- unaffected by atmospheric pollution
- life expectancy - greater than 30 years
Ten Frequently Asked Questions
What is the load bearing capacity of the roof system?
The TEXLON Transparent Roof System is designed to withstand local snow and wind loads. The foils have an extremely high tensile strength and are very resistant to tear propagation, preventing tiny nicks from developing into large tears. FOILTEC has designed roofs to withstand a wind suction load of 220 kg/m² (45 lb/ft²) and a snow load of 300 kg/m² (65 lb/ft²) In some cases, the system is reinforced underneath using stainless steel or nickel wire netting.
What is the roof's life expectancy?
Fluoroplastic film has been subjected to weathering tests for more than 30 years, and has shown no signs of deterioration to date. The tests include subjecting the roofing systems to particularly high levels of UV radiation (tested in Arizona and Miami) and exceptionally high levels of air pollution. It should be stressed that in these contexts, the film is not stabilized with chemical additives, but is intrinsically UV transparent and UV resistant. Under no circumstances is the material likely to decompose due to environmental pollution. At the end of its lifetime in the field (due to property conversion, demolition, etc.), the foils should be returned to FOILTEC to be
recycled in our production process.
Will algae develop? Will the roof get dirty?
Fluoroplastic materials have an extremely smooth surface. The Teflon-coated frying pan is a good example. Due to the material's very high surface tension, pollutants do not cling or stick to the film, rinsing clean with the rain. As long as the TEXLON system is intact there will be no
soiling or algae growth.
What kinds of forces are applied by the TEXLON Transparent Roof Systems to the substructure?
Pneumatically stabilized TEXLON elements can, in some cases, exert considerable peripheral forces on the substructure due to the slight overpressure within the system and specific wind and snow loads. Where TEXLON elements are located opposite each other, their peripheral forces
counteract and equalize, but in the case of the edge elements, the peripheral forces have to be absorbed by the support structure.
What role does the air supply play?
The TEXLON foil elements are stabilized by a slight overpressure between the individual layers. The air-filled elements prevent the sheets from becoming slack. Moreover, the air-filled chambers provide the roof system with its excellent thermal insulation properties. However, the system is not part of the structural system, as is the case with air-inflated buildings, where a breakdown in the air supply would cause the entire structure to collapse. With the TEXLON Transparent Roof System, a breakdown in the air supply would only affect insulating properties, and the building would remain intact. As a rule, emergency power generators are not necessary, although long power cuts or air supply failures should be avoided.
How thick are the foils? How high is the camber of the TEXLON elements?
The TEXLON system uses sheet gauges of 100 µm, 150 µm, and 200 µm (0.1, 0.15 and 0.2 mm - .0040", .0060", and .0080"). Although thin, the sheets provide the TEXLON Transparent Roof System with extremely high strength due to the material's outstanding mechanical properties (load-bearing capacity and elongation properties). Extensive tests have established and proved that the strength of the TEXLON Transparent Roof System surpasses by far the strength of conventional structures (whether made of timber, steel, aluminum, or similar materials). The camber (the outward bulge or bow) of the foil above its neutral assembly level is around 10 percent of an element's free span. In other words, if an element has a free span of about 3.5 m (11.48 ft), the camber will be approx. 35 cm (13.8 inch). Structural components such as wind bracing or top flange plates should therefore be mounted outside of the camber.
How should the roof system be cleaned?
TEXLON Transparent Roof Systems are self-cleaning. Any soiling of the outside surfaces should normally be washed off by the rain. This also applies to bird droppings or industrial air pollution. FOILTEC is not aware of any TEXLON roofs that have required cleaning on the outside. Cleaning the sheeting on the inside is easily carried out using water. The intervals between cleaning depend on the degree of interior soiling. As a rule, the TEXLON Roof Systems are not cleaned on the inside, and we know of only one case where interior cleaning is carried out at intervals of approximately five years. The self-cleaning capacity of the fluoroplastic film is a significant feature, as it saves both maintenance costs and capital investments for sophisticated roof traversing equipment.
Is the film available in other colors?
The film for TEXLON Transparent Roof Systems is normally transparent. It is possible to print the film with patterns; this has been completed by FOILTEC for many projects including atriums and similar applications. There are numerous options with regard to graphic designs and colors, which should be discussed with our specialists.
Are the films hail-resistant?
According to the Swiss standard SIA 280, the TEXLON foils used by FOILTEC are hail-resistant. Despite their compliance with this Swiss standard, TEXLON Transparent Roof Systems have suffered damage caused by hail. In these cases, however, glass roofs in the vicinity suffered total damage, as did car bodies. In these isolated cases, the TEXLON Transparent Roof Systems ensured that there was no operational downtime due to roof sections collapsing or the roof leaking. On the contrary, TEXLON Transparent Roof Systems are designed so that they seal themselves automatically from any holes caused by hailstorms. In doing so however, the roof system's thermal insulating capacity is affected. It is not necessary to immediately replace the damaged roof elements; this can be done when it is more convenient for the property owner or operator.
What will happen in the event of damage?
Although TEXLON Transparent Roof Systems are very robust, damage may of course occur. Minor damage can be repaired either by the property owner or by FOILTEC's experts. Any major damage can be repaired temporarily, and the damaged elements will be replaced at a convenient time to the owner. FOILTEC is usually able to supply and install replacement elements within 48 hours, weather conditions permitting.
variable shading
Foiltec has developed dynamic capabilities within TEXLON systems that can intelligently adapt and transform their transparency, aesthetics, and thermal properties as the sun moves across the sky, responding to specific program and climatic requirements.
Our variable shading technology has turned indoor spaces into environments that can control or
dramatize the effects of the sun. In the Festo Headquarters and the Solarlux Showroom both in
Germany the architects used our variable shading system. To achieve this dynamic shading,
various positive and negative print patterns can be developed and printed on the outer two layers
of a three layer system. The simple change of position of the second or middle layer, either to the
top or bottom of the system, can transform the system's transparency.
The Festo Headquarters used a bold checker-board pattern to achieve a variable transparency
between 5% and 65% and in the Solarlux Showroom the designer developed a pattern with
alternating stripes - where the stripes themselves are 50% transparent allowing the system to
adjust from 45% - 85% transparent. The range of transparency of the system is project specific
and is determined by the designer's intentions and building performance.
Company:
Address:
Steinacker 3
28717 Bremen
Germany
Phone +49-(0)421-69-351-0
Foiltec GmbH
Steinacker 3
28717 Bremen
Germany
Phone +49-(0)421-69-351-0
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