MAAS Profile/BEMO Systems GmbH company group has teamed up with BASF to develop the first bracket for ventilated façades made of the thermoplastic Ultramid to be awarded a DIBt (Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik) national technical approval. The plastic, an extra high-strength polyamide compound, is already in use in the automotive industry, e.g. for engines mounts, and is now being launched as a material for ventilated façades in the construction sector. Similar materials have already been performing impeccably in the thermal separators of aluminum façades and windows for decades.

Today, most office, commercial and industrial buildings with ventilated façade systems are very well insulated. However, often only between 60 to 80 percent of the desired insulation performance (and hence, energy savings) are achieved. This is because the load-bearing elements for mounting the façade elements are made of metal and – counteracting the insulation’s effect – allow heat to be transferred between the façade and the wall. Newly developed Ultramid brackets eliminate thermal bridges. The system has been awarded a DIBt national technical approval. Armed with this plastics component, building owners and architects can meet the tougher requirements of the Energy Efficiency Ordinance (EnEV). The load-bearing mounting system features not only extremely low thermal conductivity, but also outstanding and long-term strength.

“We were looking for a long time for a product that insulates our high-quality façades much better. And this was only possible with a radically new approach to the bracket,” said Wolfgang Maas, Managing Director of MAAS and BEMO. For this project, MAAS-BEMO and BASF have pooled their expertise and developed the bracket of glass-fiber-reinforced Ultramid through to market maturity.

The bracket – which consists of 50 percent glass fibers in the polymer compound – withstands high temperatures and displays outstanding insulation efficiency with a thermal conductivity of 0.37 W/(mK). By comparison, aluminum is a roughly 500-times better conductor. The plastics bracket penetrates right through the insulation and thus helps to effectively insulate the building against heat and cold.

Dr. Kay Brockmüller, BASF Project Manager in applications development for Engineering Plastics in the construction sector, underlines the special material properties of the glass-fiber-reinforced polyamide: “The material has outstanding insulating characteristics, withstands high loads, hardly ages at all (unlike many other plastics), and is UV-resistant as well as extremely tough.” 

Bernd Schröter, Managing Director of the installer S+T Fassaden, added: “We’ve equipped several buildings with these innovative brackets in the last few years because building owners attach importance to outstanding insulation. We managed to execute the installation work much faster than with conventional systems using metal brackets, as the bracket with its sharp edges cuts through the insulation itself.”

The brackets are marketed by MAAS Profile, BEMO Systems GmbH and distributors Systea Pohl Gmbh, GABS AG and BWM Dübel + Montagetechnik GmbH.