ReGen Building Solutions

StructaClad Lite is an Insulated cladding panel designed by ReGen Building Solutions that provides extraordinary thermal performance. Manufactured in Australia for Australian conditions, StructaClad Lite is revolutionising external cladding and the building supply industry in Australia. Structaclad_High Res

Building Material Selection

The choice of building materials is one of the most crucial decisions in building design. There are a number of factors that need to be considered such as thermal performance, durability, aesthetics and sustainability. If the selection of building materials is not done carefully, there can be considerable lifelong costs associated with the building. This may include heating and cooling costs, maintenance due to poor durability such as cracking, leaky building syndrome and many other issues.

Thermal Performance

Many home buyers do not understand what an R Value is or the cost implications beyond the purchase price to build. Poorly designed buildings with low thermal insulation cause significant costs in heating and cooling over the life of the building. Thermal Performance is measured in terms of an R – Value, or in other words the thermal resistance value of the material. The Australian Government has mandated through the NCC that the minimal performance R Value of a wall will be 2.8 in climate zones 1 – 7.

NCC Volume 2. 2016 pg 414.

Why is this important?

The R Values relate to the energy efficiency of a building. Energy efficiency is important to all of us as energy is a limited resource, it is expensive, and it’s consumption affects global warming. To put this in perspective, the average household electricity bill is broken into 4 main components.

1. 40% heating and cooling
2. 26% hot water
3. 6% lighting
4. 28% appliances.

Imagine being able to reduce the heating and cooling costs by up to 35%.

Thermal Resistance for residential housing

How does StructaClad Lite perform in R Values?

StructaClad Lite is an insulated panel that acts as an external wall cladding.It is a 75mm thick panel with a 12mm fibre cement sheet laminated to 63mm of expanded polystyrene. It is fixed on battens and is joined by a unique jointing biscuit that resists cracking and stops thermal bridging.

  

Independent assessments demonstrate that StructaClad Lite achieves an R 3 in Winter and R 2.8 in Summer without insulating the wall cavity. With the wall cavity insulated with R2.5 batts it achieves and incredible R4.9 in Winter and R4.5 in summer (Wall Calculations 181122bWS AR Building Stuctaclad ss including insulation 75 181122). How does this compare with other wall systems? See the below diagrams of wall systems from the NCC 2016 Volume 2.

To achieve the required R Values these products must add R 2 insulation into the wall cavity to achieve the required R2.8. To achieve the same R Value of StructaClad Lite, the walls of these systems would need to be significantly thickened to achieve the same level of insulation.

Durability

Durability means the capability of a building  to perform its function over a specified period of time. The Australian Building and Construction Board (ABCB) created a handbook specifically dealing with this issue in 2015. There are 5 factors that affect durability:

1. service conditions;
2. material characteristics including jointing material;
3. design and detailing;
4. workmanship; and
5. maintenance.

Service Conditions normally relate to environmental conditions such as temperature, UV Radiation, humidity, weather conditions, pollutants and exposure to saline salt. In the development of StructaClad Lite, significant effort has been made to ensure that it is manufactured from products that are not affected by environmental conditions. All third party products such as screws have been assessed and tested.

The material characteristics of StructaClad Lite has been assessed. This assessment has included thermal expansion, fatigue through wind load testing and weather proofing weatherproof testing at NATA laboratories. The fibre cement sheet used as the external skin is currently undergoing AS 2908.2:2000 testing. https://regenbuilding.com.au/megaboard/testing-and-technical-for-megaboard/

Design and detailing is critical to minimise the risk of poor workmanship.Many competitive products have had problems with cracking. As a result, a unique biscuit jointing system has been developed providing a monolithic structure that resists cracking.

Workmanship has been carefully considered in the design of StructaClad Lite. As the name suggests, it is a lighter product to work with than many of the competitive products. The design has been such that workmanship issues have been minimised.

Maintenance for StructaClad Lite has undergone careful consideration during the design phase. Unlike AAC panels such as Hebel, StructaClad Lite has a hard skin made from a Fibre Cement Sheet called MEGABOARD https://regenbuilding.com.au/megaboard/megaboard-6-12mm-cladding-boards/ that is significantly harder than AAC panels and competative foam only products. MEGABOARD provides a substrate that permits items to be screw fixed to walls without the need for specialist fixings. The unique biscuit jointing system provides a monolithic surface that resists cracking. Coating systems for paint and render have been tested and certified by the manufacturers to ensure longevity and to minimise the need for maintenance.

Aesthetics

StructaClad Lite has been designed to accommodate a number of finishing systems. Finishing systems can include paint, render, stonework and brick slips to provide a homeowner with significant diversity.

Environmentally Sustainable Building Practices

Sustainability is a key driver for all products promoted by ReGen Building Solutions. So what does Environmentally Sustainable Building Practices mean?

Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle: from planning to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation, and demolition.

For ReGen Building Solutions, we not only believe in ensuring that buildings using our products are more sustainable for the occupants, but we also ensure that the products we supply are sustainable for the planet. Consideration has been given to each product to ensure that they are recyclable and have low energy embodiment comparative to competitive products on the market.

The focus on Thermal Efficiency is to ensure that heating and cooling is not a luxury of those that can afford it, but a right. In doing this we also assist the planet by reducing the need of power consumption.