Covering it all: Investigating lightweight cladding

Keeping it light

The benefits of lightweight cladding stretch beyond the performance of the structure itself. Owners, installers, architects, and the living environment can all benefit from these types of materials. This includes lower energy bills, a more comfortable environment for occupants, near limitless design freedom for architects, and a lower carbon footprint for the planet.

Lightweight claddings deliver on the performance that today’s structures require and have proven to be an excellent fit for the retrofit market to rehabilitate buildings of the past for another lifetime of use. With sustainability at the forefront of the conversation, lightweight claddings help limit carbon emissions. With so many aesthetic options, they also meet any project’s design vision. For the many stakeholders involved in the construction process, lightweight claddings can lead to a holistic solution for the building envelope, one that impacts everyone on the project.

Notes

¹ Learn more about embodied carbon by visiting, newbuildings.org/code_policy/embodied-carbon/.

² Examine the fuel economy weight at www.internationaltrucks.com/blog/fuel-economy-weight.

³ Read the report, “Energy – Wet, warm wall worries.” Oak Ridge National Laboratory, www.franklin.in.gov/egov/documents/1501244146_07449.pdf.

⁴ Refer to the “Benefits of EIFS.” EIFS Industry Members Association, www.eima.com/eifs/benefits.

⁵ Learn more about Environmental Product Declarations at www.stocorp.com/epd/.

 Author

Karine Galla is director, product management, for Sto Corp. She has more than 20 years of experience in product marketing in exterior insulation and finish systems (EIFS), stucco, air and moisture barriers, and other materials. Galla has a master’s degree from the University of Lyon, France. She is multilingual and holds AWCI’s EIFS Doing it Right and Building Envelope Doing it Right certifications, as well as the ISO Internal Lead Auditor certification from Georgia Tech.