Office Facilities

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THERMAL, ACOUSTIC AND FIRE PROTECTION
Office and multi-functional buildings have an important impact on our urban environment. With their growing functional and structural complexity, designing and managing these buildings efficiently means reducing the energy consumption without compromising the safety and comfort of occupants. Armacell’s best in class equipment insulation solutions save energy, help to cut operating costs and contribute towards a safer and more comfortable environment in offices. Creating sustainable value for your customers.

SOLUTIONS ENABLING ENERGY SAVINGS
We are the inventors of flexible foams for equipment insulation and a leading provider of engineered foams. Our lightweight thermal, acoustic and mechanical solutions create sustainable value for our customers. Innovation and entrepreneurship are an integral part of our DNA. We drive industry-leading solutions and aspire to launch new technologies using alternative resources or natural feedstock. Day in day out, our products significantly contribute to global energy efficiency and make a difference around the world.

In meeting the challenges of megatrends, such as energy efficiency, acoustic comfort, lightweighting, the globalisation of food supplies, our product solutions stand out in terms of functionality and ease of installation.

OPTIMISING ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND OCCUPANT COMFORT
Almost 20 percent of total expenditure for typical office buildings is spent on energy. A significant operational cost that deserves attention. While office buildings can be up to 70 percent more efficient when the means available today are used, there is still a lot of potential for saving energy and money.

Insulating mechanical equipment is one of the simplest and most efficient measures to save energy in buildings. With Armacell’s insulation solutions energy costs in office buildings can be decreased for many years to come.

BEYOND GOING GREEN
Architects, building developers and engineers have recognised the link between buildings and occupants’ health, and are designing places where workers are more productive, less stressed and less likely to fall sick. Post-pandemic office design will have to put hygiene at the heart of workplace planning.

From preventing moisture and providing protection against bacterial growth to enhancing office comfort and implementing environmental considerations, the right type of insulation is key for the performance of an office building. Balancing ENERGY-EFFICIENCY and office experience is critical when creating optimal working spaces. When specifying insulation materials, objectives for ACOUSTIC COMFORT, RELIABLE OPERATION, HYGIENE and INDOOR AIR REQUIREMENTS as well as FIRE SAFETY have to be taken into account.

Armacell’s insulation solutions are fibre and dust free. They ensure greater comfort for employees, rapid amortisation and a reduced risk of downtime due to unplanned maintenance work. Even renovating while the building remains operational is no sweat with our easy-to-install solutions.

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INCREASED ENERGY EFFICIENCY WITH ARMAFLEX THERMAL INSULATION
The global building sector is growing at unprecedented rates. According to the International Energy Agency, 230 billion square metres in new construction will be built over the next forty years – adding the equivalent of Paris to the planet every single week. Around 75 percent of Europe’s buildings are not energy efficient. Increasing the energy efficiency of new and existing office buildings therefore offers a huge energy- and costsaving opportunity. Space heating is the most important end-use with cooling demand increasing rapidly. Modern glass facades, which allow plenty of daylight to enter the interior of building complexes, increase the need for heating in summer and cooling in winter.

The good news: By using the energy-saving means available today, the energy demand of a new office building can be lowered by up to 70 percent. In a typical office building heating, cooling, ventilation, hot water and lighting represent almost 80 percent of the total energy use, making these systems the best targets for energy savings. Sustainable office buildings can actually cost less to build, operate and maintain. They can generate substantially more profit and provide economic benefits to all stakeholders.

OUR SOLUTIONS
Tapping the significant potential for energy savings in new and existing office buildings brings benefits in terms of lower energy costs and decreased CO2 emissions.

With our insulation solutions it is possible to achieve considerable energy savings at comparatively little expense. It is often wrongly assumed that a well-insulated building shell is a sufficient barrier to prevent energy losses. However, even in modern, well-insulated buildings substantial energy losses occur due to uninsulated or poorly insulated technical infrastructure. State-of-the-art insulation of mechanical equipment is one of the easiest and most efficient ways to save energy in buildings.

ArmaFlex is our product heritage. This highly flexible, lightweight insulation features a closed-cell structure and combines a low thermal conductivity with an in-built water vapour barrier. As an independent life-cycle assessment (LCA) revealed, ArmaFlex saves 140 times more energy than is needed for its production. No other energy-saving measure pays off as quickly.

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RELIABLE OPERATION FOR THE LONG-TERM
Creating a great employee experience is critical to enable work that creates value. According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) a positive work experience results in increased engagement, greater levels of innovation and up to four times higher profits. Thermal comfort and indoor air quality are fundamental for a good office experience and, consequently, employee performance. A breakdown of the heating, ventilation, air conditioning or plumbing systems will not usually bring work to a complete standstill in an office building, but it can lead to an uncomfortable working environment that hinders productivity. Operation downtime can result in loss of revenue and reputation.

RESILIENCE IS CRUCIAL IN OFFICE BUILDINGS. THE POTENTIAL COST OF DOWNTIME IS TOO HIGH TO IGNORE.

For technical installations, condensation is enemy number one: if moisture forms on the surface of pipes or water vapour penetrates the insulation material from the outside, the insulation system has failed. Humidity is the source of many problems: A reduced thermal performance because of humidity intake is often the least of them. Mould, corrosion, structural damage, water dripping from suspended ceilings or disruption of processes due to maintenance work can easily result in huge costs.

OUR SOLUTIONS
ArmaFlex is a closed-cell insulation with a high resistance to water vapour transmission. Equipment is reliably protected against condensation and energy losses throughout its service life.

We are a provider of systems where individual components fit perfectly together and are tested as a system. ArmaFix® pipehangers, our ArmaFlex Protect and ArmaProtect® passive fire protection solutions, flexible Arma-Chek® claddings and ArmaFlex adhesives complement and strengthen the system to guarantee long-term functionality.

To ensure professional installation we developed a unique concept: trained ArmaFlex installation partners can be certified by Armacell and receive an extended warranty on AF/ArmaFlex products. In many European countries this certification has established itself as a seal of quality.

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ENHANCED OFFICE ACOUSTICS INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY
Noise is the single most disturbing factor for the majority of employees working in open-plan offices. Acoustics affect our performance. Noise levels of 60 to 65 dB which are common in open-plan offices well exceed the 55 dB recommended for intellectual work. By creating workplaces with good acoustics, communication, concentration and productivity can be increased, stress levels reduced and overall employee satisfaction improved.

A QUIETER
WORKPLACE CAN
BOOST EMPLOYEE
SATISFACTION AND
INCREASE
WORKPLACE
EFFECTIVENESS.

OUR SOLUTIONS
We offer comprehensive solutions for enhanced sound control on mechanical equipment and structural building elements. Our systems provide an effective means of sound absorption or damping, and acoustic improvements can often be combined with the required thermal insulation.

Our ArmaFlex and Tubolit products have very good structure-borne sound insulation properties on small pipe diameters. As a system with ArmaFix pipehanger, ArmaFlex acoustically decouples pipes and ducts from the building structure and thus prevents the transmission of structureborne noise into the building. Our highperformance, multi-layer ArmaComfort AB solutions provide both sound reduction and acoustic decoupling of waste-water and rainwater pipes. Our latest innovation creates new types of acoustic barriers with excellent transmission reduction and ultrathin thicknesses. ArmaComfort Barrier products allow space-saving sound attenuation of new and existing building constructions and mechanical equipment.

For applications which demand a high noise absorption, such as housings for emergency power generators, heat pumps and power plants, the open-cell acoustic foam ArmaSound® RD is the ideal solution.

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Unprotected surface / Protected with Microban
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HEALTH, WELL-BEING AND PRODUCTIVITY
A healthy workplace is vital for employee productivity and the long-term success of any company. The air quality in office environments varies and occupants can be exposed to a range of airborne pollutants such as dust, irritants, pathogens, unpleasant odours, mould and mildew and other contaminants. Excess moisture in combination with dust and dirt particles provides an ideal breeding ground for microbial growth. The health implications associated with poor indoor air quality – from respiratory problems to infections – are well established. As studies have shown, improved ventilation and increased outside air rates can improve productivity by up to 11 percent.

IN PARTNERSHIP
WITH ARMACELL,
OFFICE FACILITIES
CAN STRIVE FOR
TOP-NOTCH INDOOR
AIR QUALITY.

Armacell is the only manufacturer of flexible technical insulation materials to provide its premium products with built-in antimicrobial protection: AF/ArmaFlex and SH/ArmaFlex are
equipped with Microban®. These antimicrobial additives provide ‘proactive’ protection against harmful bacteria, mould and mildew.

OUR SOLUTIONS
Dust and fibre-free, ArmaFlex products provide protection against microorganisms. It is much more difficult for microbes to settle on the smooth, non-porous surface of the elastomeric material than in open-cell mineral fibre and they do not find the nutrients they need to grow.

Due to their closed-microcell structure and high resistance to water vapour transmission, ArmaFlex insulation materials have reliable protection against condensation and moisture ingress. Plus, they have extremely low VOC emissions and can contribute to green building certification schemes. Large office buildings can pose a particular risk of legionella infections. As a result of the Covid 19 pandemic shutdown, the water temperature in the plumbing systems of non-operational buildings could decrease and the risk for growth and spread of Legionella and other biofilmassociated bacteria increase. Our ArmaFlex and Tubolit insulation protect hot and cold water pipes against unacceptable temperature fluctuations which can lead to a contamination with legionella and pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteria.

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FIRE SAFETY IS THE TOP PRIORITY

Business owners usually do not think of a fire destroying their company or offices. They are more worried about less tangible threats, such as downward trends in their industry or economy. If a fire hits a commercial building, it can cause great losses. According to the US National Fire Protection Agency, 112,000 fires in non-residential buildings and a loss of $778 million in store and office properties were reported in 2018. In office buildings, fires are most likely to break out during regular work hours, thus endangering the lives and health of employees. In the event of a fire, smoke poses a much greater threat than the fire itself: 95 percent of fire fatalities die as a result of smoke inhalation. If a fire breaks out in a building, low smoke density can mean the difference between life and death.

FIRES CAN NEVER BE COMPLETELY RULED OUT AND THEY OCCUR UNEXPECTEDLY. PROTECTING YOUR INVESTMENT AND EMPLOYEES AGAINST FIRE BREAKOUTS IS CRUCIAL.

OUR SOLUTIONS
At Armacell, safety comes first and maximum reliability is crucial. Our systems increase the fire safety in buildings. By mitigating the fire and smoke risk, they improve visibility and respiration, thus extending the time to safely evacuate a building in the event of a fire.

With ArmaFlex Ultima we have set a new safety standard in technical insulation. Based on the patented ArmaPrene® technology, ArmaFlex Ultima is the first flexible technical insulation material in the world with fire class BL-s1,d0. In comparison to a standard elastomeric product, the flame-resistant insulation material exhibits 10 times less smoke.

To prevent fire spreading from one room to another, passive fire protection has a significant impact on safety in office facilities. ArmaFlex Protect and ArmaProtect systems have fire-stopping components which seal off pipe penetrations in fire-resistant walls or floors.

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