An Innovative Building Envelope System Based on Expanded Polypropylene (EPP) for Affordable and High-performance Housing

这项拟议的研究旨在调查发泡聚丙烯(EPP)在预制墙体系统中的应用。EPP具有优异的热性能和物理性能，适合用作建筑围护结构中的隔热和结构材料。在汽车行业，EPP的制造和成型工艺已经以精简和具有成本效益的方式成熟。拟议的研究将调查如何将汽车行业的EPP部件的制造过程转移到预制墙板的制造上，以用于建造可持续和负担得起的住房。蓝谷建筑(BVB)公司是一家总部设在圭尔夫的垂直一体化公司，拥有汽车和建筑行业的广泛知识。他们的研发活动专注于根据精益建筑原则创新制造工艺，以开发预制墙体和地板系统，从而显著减少浪费，提高建筑围护结构的质量，最大限度地降低成本，并提高加拿大经济适用房行业的生产率。该学术团队寻求通过模拟和实验室测试来量化拟议的基于EPP的墙板的性能，重点是面板的热性能、结构性能和消防安全性能。拟议设计的性能将从结构稳定性、气密性和无热桥细节方面进行评估。此外，当局亦会透过建筑物能源模拟，评估拟议以资源增值计划为基础的墙板对建筑物能源效益和遵守建筑守则的影响。目标是指导所需的适当设计决策，以确保墙系统的高性能，同时通过采用精益制造工艺将建筑成本和废物产生降至最低。BVB将通过在安大略省约21个中层住宅项目上实施基于EPP的墙板系统，并将墙板供应给其他建筑商，将成果商业化。

The proposed research is aimed to investigate the use of Expanded Polypropylene (EPP) in a prefabricated wall system. EPP has superior thermal and physical properties allowing it to be suitable as a thermal insulation and structural material in the building envelope. The manufacturing and moulding process of EPP has been matured in a streamlined and cost-effective manner in the automobile industry. The proposed research will investigate how the manufacturing process of EPP parts from the automobile industry can be transferred to manufacturing prefabricated wall panels for use in constructing sustainable and affordable housing. Blue Valley Building (BVB) Corporation is a vertically integrated company based in Guelph with extensive knowledge from the automobile and construction industries. Their research and development activities focus on innovating the manufacturing process aligned with lean construction principles to develop prefabricated wall and floor systems that will significantly reduce waste, improve the quality of the building envelope, minimize costs, and increase productivity in the Canadian affordable housing industry. The academic team seeks to quantify the performance of the proposed EPP-based wall panels through simulation and laboratory testing with a specific focus on the panel's thermal, structural, and fire safety performance. The performance of the proposed design will be assessed in terms of structural stability, airtightness, and thermal bridge-free detailing. In addition, the impact of the proposed EPP-based wall panel on building energy efficiency and compliance with the Building Codes will be assessed through building energy simulation. The objective is to guide the appropriate design decisions needed towards ensuring high-performance for the wall system whilst minimizing construction cost and the generation of waste through adopting a lean manufacturing process. The outcomes will be commercialized by BVB through implementing the EPP-based wall panel system on approximately 21 of their mid-rise residential projects across Ontario and supplying the wall panels to other builders.