Materials-Claddings

Vinyl Cladding – Vinyl cladding is a chlorine based plastic cladding system

Website - http://www.austech.com.au/products/DuratuffSelectVinylCladding.aspx- http://www.projectlink.com.au/directory/austech/News/vinyl-cladding-is-the-environmentally-sustainable-wall-cladding-system.html

Embodied energy – The environmental production cost of Vinyl cladding is supposed to be around half of an equivalently sized solid brick wall. Vinyl consists of around 60% chlorine which is extracted from salt (NaCl sodium chloride)

Recyclability – most elements of vinyl can be recycled and reused in the manufacturing process. In America, more than 1 billion pounds of vinyl was recycled in the last year. This said, large amounts of plastics are not recycled, heavily contributing to landfill. The time taken for plastic to biodegrade has not yet been determined.

Here’s an interesting video on recycling plastic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-Lg_kvLaAM&feature=related

Labour costs – vinyl cladding is constructed in much the same way a regular timbre shiplap building would be built. However, unlike timbre it never needs to be repainted, reducing the labour in upkeep and the environmental cost of repainting.

Insulation qualities - vinyl cladding is usually used in conjunction with a 3^rd party insulator

Durability – vinyl cladding comes with a 50 year warrantee

Shiplap timbre

Website – http://www.shiplap.com.au/ - http://www.weathertex.com.au/

Embodied energy – if sourced from a plantation, timbre is a highly sustainable material, only consuming energy in its transportation and general upkeep of the timbre. Also during the time from planting to felling, the manufacture of timbre is essentially a temporary eco system.

Recyclability – provided that the timbre is not altered by chemicals, it can be returned to the environment where it will be broken down by bacteria, enriching the soil. Timbre can also be reformed into different wood based products such as MDF.

Labour costs – the initial labour cost of timbre is fairly standard for a cladding material, however, the upkeep of timbre is fairly intensive, requiring constant work to ensure the timbre lasts.

Insulation qualities – timbre cladding is usually used in conjunction with a 3^rd party insulator

Durability – if you upkeep your external timbre annually it can last 80-90 years without any major alterations.

Fibre cement sheeting(Eco-cladding)

Website – http://www.ecohousing.com/pages/eco-cladding.html

Embodied energy – the manufacturing plant is designed to be mobile, drastically reducing transport costs by making the material closer to the site and sourcing materials locally. However fibre cement sheeting is a concrete based material, causing it to largely contribute to green house gas emissions in its curing process.

Recyclability – if kept in expectable condition fibre cement sheeting can be used in new builds, otherwise it will contribute to landfill

Labour costs – Ecocladding is aimed at the “do it yourself” market, this implies a level of “ease of use”, requiring glue and screws to fix the cladding to existing walls or framing via metal top-hats. Ecocladding is also light weight, reducing transportation costs, and easy to work with, only requiring basic tools to be used.

Insulation qualities – 60mm R3.01, 80mm R4.02, 52mm R 2.7 and 64mm R 3.3

Durability - fibre cement sheeting should last around 80 years, requiring repainting fairly regularly depending on the quality of paint used.

Alucobond – Alucabond consists of a two 5mm aluminium sheets with a polyethene core

Website – http://www.alucobond.com.au/html/s01_home/home.asp

Embodied energy – the creation of aluminium uses vast amounts of energy compared to other material like timbre. However, recycling aluminium uses only around 10% of the energy required to manufacture it in the first place.

Recyclability – recycled aluminium uses on 10% of the energy used to create new aluminium

Labour costs – the labour costs are similar to most cladding materials, requiring the material to be fixed to a series of top-hats

Insulation qualities – Alucobond is usually coupled with 3^rd party insulators

Durability – alocubond should last around 80 – 90 years

Zincalume steel cladding

Website – http://www.zincalume.com.au/

Embodied energy – although not as high as aluminium, the production and manipulation of steel is consumes large amounts of energy.

Recyclability – zincalume steel, if not corroded can be either melted down and reformed or re-used on another build

Labour costs – steel cladding is relatively easy to work with, it’s light weight implying easy manoeuvrability around a building sight and can be fixed either to the outside of the studwork (in a horizontal situation) or to a series of top-hats (in a vertical situation).

Insulation qualities – zincalume steel cladding is very thin and fluctuates greatly with exterior temperatures, insulation within studwork is vital.

Durability – bluescope steel offer a warranty of 15 years