For him architect José Luis Valenciano, “Ceramic bricks and blocks, as well as the construction systems where they are used, offer the best construction solutions for comprehensive compliance with the Technical Code. “They are comprehensive solutions, since they provide quality, efficiency, sustainability and interior comfort to the projects of which they are part”.
To understand and demonstrate to what extent ceramic bricks and blocks are more topical than ever, they remain at the forefront of construction and are solutions that deliver, we present three stories in this article. A unique project for its sustainability: Arroyo Bodonal with LEED Platinum certificate; the latest innovation in brick and ceramic block design: Isoceramic® powered by Cerámica de La Estanca; and the 'Technical manual of facades and interior walls of brick and blocks for cladding' edited by Gremi de Rajolers of the Valencian Community.
The ceramic solutions have Environmental Product Declarations (EPD) based on the Life Cycle from cradle to grave, accredited by AENOR, as well as sectoral sheets for GREEN, LEED and BREEAM sustainability certifications. The requirements demanded by these certifications are key when designing a sustainable and effective project, as is the case of Arroyo Bodonal, a pioneering project in the Community of Madrid that has shown that investing in sustainability is profitable.
Its architecture stands out for minimizing the energy demand of the building through a geothermal energy system of 47 perforations for the air conditioning of the homes and an envelope that revolves around the ceramic block.
“At ACRE Arquitectura we design architecture for everyone and we try to create spaces that are sustainable without the need to sacrifice the quality of the space. "We estimate that the efficiency of Arroyo Bodonal allows us to save the emission of 138 tons of CO2," it states Carlos Nieto, architect and partner-director of the ACRE Arquitectura studio, responsible for the project.
From the preliminary project, the objective of sustainability and comfort conditioned all decisions, and to minimize the demand for both cooling and heating, we worked with the orientation to optimize its exposure to the sun in winter and summer, the terraces were used as parasols, and an envelope was designed with a ventilated façade of natural stone and a perforated brick sheet, achieving an overall enclosure -0.21 W/(m2*K)
To make the façade, 14 energy simulations were carried out until the most optimal solution was obtained: 5 cm of nominal thickness of sprayed polyurethane foam on the outside, 8 cm of rock wool on the inside and an execution using a half-foot sheet of brick. Perforated. For Carlos Nieto, “The use of perforated brick on the façade provided a series of non-negotiable advantages for the project. It provided a continuous and rigid support on which to build the rest of the layers, it provided a very important thermal inertia to achieve the proposed thermal standards, it facilitated the anchoring of the metal carpentry pre-fences, it provided unbeatable airborne noise insulation, and it added points in LEED certification for proximity criteria, before and after recycling, waste on site, chemical composition and its DAP.”
Once the energy demand of the building was minimized, through the envelope, the most advantageous air conditioning system was chosen, and geothermal energy with 8 heat pumps was chosen. The project is monitored continuously and as estimated ACRE Architecture: The homes generate a monthly consumption of heating, cooling, ACS and maintenance of the installation, around €45/month (taxes included), maintaining the temperature throughout the year between 22 and 24 degrees.
ACRE Architecture is working on the second phase of this promotion: Arroyo Bodonal 2. “The results obtained in the first phase and the number of families that could not be part of the project have prompted us to carry out a second phase in which we will once again rely on ceramic brick for the façade,” it is finished Carlos Nieto.
Isoceramic®, double tongue and groove system for bricks and ceramic blocks
Developed and patented by Ceramics from La Estanca, this innovation in the design of ceramic pieces allows them to fit together through vertical and horizontal tongue and groove jointing. “It is a cutting system applicable to most bricks and adaptable to the current cutters of most manufacturers. Our idea is to license the system so that other companies can manufacture and market the final product,” it states Humberto Martínez, general director of Cerámica de La Estanca.
From Cerámica de La Estanca they affirm that the advantages of the system are:
- Reduction of assembly times
- Perfect finish and guaranteed wall straightness
- Increased resistance to horizontal pressure or pull-out forces
- Drastic reduction of waste on site
- Reduction of cement consumption and the need for mixing machinery on site
New tools for ceramic prescription. 'Technical manual for facades and interior walls of brick and blocks to be covered'
“Facades and interior walls require comprehensive solutions to comply with the Technical Building Code (CTE), and in this sense ceramic pieces contribute to building quality, efficient, sustainable buildings that provide interior comfort to users,” the architect points out José Luis Valenciano.
On the facades, ceramic bricks and blocks improve the thermal and acoustic insulation of the envelopes with solutions of one or two sheets, which can be completely ceramic or mixed, and reliably solve different construction systems: ventilated facades, SATE or self-supporting. In interior partitioning, the ceramic brick interior walls adapt to the needs of each project, stand out for their robustness and high technical performance, and provide a comfortable and healthy environment for users.
Besides “they have all the necessary tests, calculations and certificates, and are perfectly characterized in their Declarations of Performance (DoP), as well as in the CTE and its recognized documents, which makes prescription tasks easier for professionals,” concludes José Luis Valenciano.
To facilitate easy access to all this information, the Guild of Rajolers of the Valencian Community has published the 'Technical manual for facades and interior walls of brick and blocks for cladding'.
The manual has been prepared by the Hispalyt technical office and any professional can download it with a single click to have complete information on each and every one of the brick and ceramic block solutions for facades (SATE, ventilated and self-supporting), single-leaf, double-leaf and mixed separating walls. For each of these types, the manual includes subtypes, as well as characteristics, performance levels (thermal - by climatic zone -, acoustics, fire and health) and information on compliance with the CTE.
Finally, in the document, the professional will also be able to discover the performance advantages of ceramic solutions compared to concrete solutions, in aspects such as economic savings, CTE compliance, thermal and acoustic performance, or sustainability.
“Brick walls, solutions that comply”
The Gremi de Rajolers of the Valencian Community develops, together with Hispalyt, the campaign “Brick walls, solutions that comply”, whose objective is to show the benefits and advantages of solutions for facades and interior partitions for comprehensive compliance with the Technical Code of the building.