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

拟议的研究旨在调查发泡聚丙烯（EPP）在预制墙体系统中的使用。 EPP 具有优异的热性能和物理性能，使其适合作为建筑围护结构的隔热和结构材料。 EPP的制造和成型工艺在汽车工业中已经以精简且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 零件制造工艺转移到制造预制墙板，以用于建造可持续和经济适用住房。 Blue Valley Building (BVB) Corporation 是一家总部位于圭尔夫的垂直一体化公司，在汽车和建筑行业拥有丰富的知识。他们的研发活动重点是根据精益建筑原则创新制造工艺，开发预制墙壁和地板系统，从而显着减少浪费，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住房行业的生产力。学术团队试图通过模拟和实验室测试来量化拟议的 EPP 墙板的性能，特别关注面板的热、结构和消防安全性能。拟议设计的性能将根据结构稳定性、气密性和无热桥细节进行评估。此外，将通过建筑能源模拟评估拟议的基于 EPP 的墙板对建筑能源效率和建筑规范合规性的影响。目标是指导适当的设计决策，以确保墙体系统的高性能，同时通过采用精益制造工艺最大限度地减少施工成本和废物的产生。 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.