Product category:
Steel and Structural Frames
News Release from: Corus Colors | Subject: Corus Colorcoat Technical papers
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 25 April 2008
Corus Colorcoat Technical papers
Colorcoat Technical Papers are part of the companies commitment to the future of building envelope technology.
Interview with Dr Graeme Peacock, Market Development Manager for Corus Colors Corus Colorcoat Technical papers - why are Corus doing this?
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 23 Jun 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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"The Colorcoat brand stands for much more than just the world's best pre-finished steel products.
We have the leading products like Colorcoat HPS200 and Colorcoat Prisma, but to support these, we know that the market wants a level of service and advice.
We know this because of the 40 years we have been active in the UK market and because of the extensive market research which we continually carry out.
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So, there is of course a commercial agenda - I'd be lying if I said we didn't want to sell more of our products - but the Colorcoat Technical Papers are a sign of our genuine commitment to the future of building envelope technology.
We want a mature, responsible and sustainable cladding and roofing industry in the UK and we support this by giving high-quality, genuinely new and independent advice".
These seem to cover very different topics - Is there a theme?.
"The only theme is that we want to cover important topics for people using pre-finished steel cladding and roofing.
We recognize that the core market is large industrial and commercial buildings, and that the majority of the industry doesn't get excited about these buildings, so there is a real opportunity for us to be the first point of contact for anyone designing or building a pre-finished steel clad building.
The other rule that I have for the Colorcoat Technical Papers is that they present new, independent, leading-edge work.
We aren't using these as a sales tool to say "and the only way to comply is to use our products".
Market research has told us that we have the credibility to provide genuinely independent advice and so that is what we are doing".
Why do I say that these are reporting leading-edge research?.
"We have an ongoing process of keeping close to the market so that we can see the problems that people are having.
We then assess these and understand whether we are in the right position to answer these.
So, for example, we could foresee the tightening of regulations around air-tightness which the 2006 Part L brought in.
We knew there was a lack of understanding in the market on this issue, so we set about becoming the experts and when the new regulations were introduced, we were in a position to help out.
Likewise the other papers.
The end of life paper came about because of questions we were being asked and the research we did to answer them.
For the structural paper we set out to perform the first ever full-scale, full-system structural test of built-up cladding systems up to 220mm depth.
For the first time, we could understand the interaction of components from different suppliers who would all test their own part individually".
Who do we work with to create these?.
"We have a broad bank of skills at our disposal.
Obviously, we like to keep a tight reign on the final production of the papers to ensure the high quality standards.
We have a large RandD team within Corus who we can call on, but we also use the Steel Construction Institute (SCI) and we have established the Colorcoat Centre for the Building Envelope at Oxford Brookes University to do some of the more fundamental research for us too.
Of course, it is equally important that our advice is practical, so we like to talk to the market and we have an ongoing technical dialogue with our customers over this".
What response have we had so far?.
"Response has been very good.
The most popular Colorcoat Technical Paper to date has been the one on end-of-life recycling.
This was so popular that we actually had to order a reprint of the hard copy within a week of the launch.
It is important that people have a choice of how they want to access this information, so as well as printing brochures, we make sure they are easy to download from colorcoat-online.com too.
The really encouraging thing to me is seeing good levels of downloads long after we first launched a Technical Paper, as we are continuing to do with the air tightness one.
This tells me that the market is genuinely appreciating the information we are producing.
We have just achieved CPD accreditation from RIBA for the first three papers, so this will open them up to a whole new audience.
The latest paper, Intergrated lighting solutions for low energy buildings has also had an excellent response.
We've seen a download rate of 1250 in the past two weeks".
Explain the RIBA CPD assessment.
"We are used to CPD seminars, but within the RIBA CPD scheme, architects can get their CPD points from a variety of sources, including literature.
We have deliberately kept the Colorcoat Technical Papers independent, so they fit the CPD criteria very well.
The RIBA reviewers were very complementary about the three papers they have assessed so far.
Now that these have been assessed, they can be counted as part of the RIBA core curriculum - we have modified the papers available online to include details of where they fit into the curriculum.
We are also putting a quiz section onto colorcoat-online.com so that we can issue certificates which are often required to prove CPD points.
I haven't mentioned the latest paper yet - we have published this, on integrated lighting strategies, in electronic version only for now because there will be a delay while we get RIBA CPD approval for this one too which we want to get sorted out before we run off hard copies".
The latest paper is on integrated lighting design - isn't this a bit far removed from Colorcoat products?.
"We have been working a lot recently on sustainability-related issues.
The more we looked at how to produce low-energy buildings, the more we realised that any integrated strategy must focus on the three primary uses of energy within buildings, namely heating, cooling and lighting.
We have worked a lot in the past on how to reduce heating bills by avoiding heat-flow through the envelope, either through air-tightness or insulation.
In order to take a holistic approach, we wanted to understand what impact the building envelope could have on the need for lighting energy.
In doing this, we had to understand not only how to admit light through the envelope, but also the effect of control systems and different lighting types, the practicalities and economics of managing real-life buildings and the total energy balance, taking into account heating and cooling and the effect of heat transmittance through roof lights.
So, in short yes, it is a bit far removed from Colorcoat products, but it is another example of us filling a knowledge gap with high-quality independent advice".
And what can we expect in the future?.
"Now that would be telling!.
We are working on a few more issues at the moment, but because these papers are based on genuinely new research I genuinely don't know yet exactly what will come out.
The only hint I can give you is that we are continuing the sustainability theme.
This is a vital issue and should be at the top of all our agendas.
The trouble is that just about anyone can jump on this bandwagon, so there is a real need for some genuinely useful, independent advice - that is what we are hoping to give you". Request a free brochure from Corus Colors ...
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