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

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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.