EJOT Colorfast fasteners have been used in the creation of the metal building envelope for a new 60,000 square foot ‘build to suit’ parcel hub near Wolverhampton, UK, which is designed to be amongst the UK’s most sustainable buildings of its kind.
Developed by Trebor Developments and Schroders Capital UK Real Estate Fund (SCREF), the new state of the art facility at Revolution Park will be a regional base for leading European parcel delivery company DPD, who have agreed a 25 year lease. The 10.5 acre distribution facility is the latest addition to this highly successful business park with a design featuring two distinctive pods – one being a single storey unit housing staff facilities, and the other a two storey office block.
Installed by Halesowen-based UK Industrial Roof & Cladding, the building envelope is also designed with carbon savings in mind to an extremely well insulated standard, and it is here where 93,000 EJOT Colorfast over moulded fasteners made an important contribution. The architect specified the TATA Steel Trisobuild built-up system for the roof and walls, with additional walls using Trimpanel Micro Rib, to meet the envelope’s target performance goals which had to be consistent with the requirements of the BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating.
Using a mix of EJOT Colorfast CF15 and CF19 JT3-3-5.5 X 25 self-drilling fasteners in conjunction with the TATA Steel system meant that a high-level of thermal insulation could be assured for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the design of Colorfast’s head and washer ensures that a consistent seal can be provided above the sheet to achieve a level of airtightness that may not be possible with other types of colour-matched fasteners, and it also minimises the risk of water ingress.
Secondly, the materials used in the manufacture of Colorfast mean the level of heat transfer from outside to in and vice versa is limited. This is particularly the case for stainless steel fasteners of the type used here at Revolution Park, which conduct heat much less than their coated carbon steel equivalents. In addition, the nylon over-moulded head acts as an additional thermal insulator as well as enhancing the building aesthetics.
The final sustainable dimension to Colorfast is product longevity. Stainless steel Colorfast fasteners are highly resistant to corrosion which means they are approved for use in building envelope designs that qualify for a 25 year TATA Platinum Plus Warranty, as this project did. This is a guarantee derived from a tailored specification designed to offer long-term durability and building performance, with the result being lower cost of ownership through the life of the building.
Stuart Owen of UK Industrial Roof & Cladding said: “The choice of fasteners is critically important to the performance of the building envelope as TATA recognises in its warranty scheme. But Colorfast is really advantageous from an installer’s perspective too, given the excellent technical support that is readily available from the EJOT UK team and the fastener’s ease of use, which all contributes to delivering a first-class result.”
EJOT UK’s regional sales engineer Nathan Handley added: “Colorfast can play an important role in helping architects and contractors meet these targets given how the fastener enables the creation of a building envelope with assured long-term durability, which can be substantiated with over 30 years of ‘real life’ test data, coupled with excellent levels of thermal insulation.”
In addition to the long-term functional benefits, Colorfast’s lasting colour also ensures that aesthetics are optimised throughout the building envelope’s design life. EJOT UK has developed over-moulding technology which ensures the fastener’s head is resistant to the effects of the weather and its colour is UV-stable to stay consistent with the panels it is attaching, regardless of which of the 400 or so colours are specified.
Having spent a decade in the fastener industry experiencing every facet – from steel mills, fastener manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, as well as machinery builders and plating + coating companies, Claire has developed an in-depth knowledge of all things fasteners.
Alongside visiting numerous companies, exhibitions and conferences around the world, Claire has also interviewed high profile figures – focusing on key topics impacting the sector and making sure readers stay up to date with the latest developments within the industry.
