We talk about it with Samuele Beraldo, Head of Construction Area of Fassa I-Labthe laboratory where Fassa Bortolo products are born: a research Center interior with a Lstate-of-the-art laboratory fully equipped which has been working for over 20 years to improve the quality standards of construction, understood on the one hand as improving performance, and on the other as improving the healthiness and sustainability of the products.
Chemical-free building products: common perception and some reflections
“I want a product free of chemicals”: what would you respond to a statement of this type? Which is better: chemical innovations or natural products?
I would say that if we want talk about “natural” in the construction world we should talk about clay composite mortarsaggregates and straw, because upon closer inspection even a product considered natural such as Lime comes from a chemical transformation process: starting from limestone, a natural material, lime is obtained, which is a material characterized by a strong alkalinity and causticity. The danger represented by the causticity of lime is linked to the possibility of direct contact with eyes, skin or inhalation of dust, but is not linked to emissions of dangerous substances over time. Furthermore, there are chemical additives that derive from natural raw materials, such as potato starch. Actually Chemistry itself is a neutral concept, which can lead to problems or solve them; Over the last 20 years, awareness of this positive potential has grown.
On the use of cement and chemical additives
Among the great construction innovations of the last century was the advent of CEMENT, invented in the 19th century but widely spread in Italy only in the 1950s. What evolution have plasters undergone?
The massive use of cement-based plasters it arrived in Italy after the war, during the reconstruction period and in the economic boom of the 50s and 60s. Compared to lime, cement was preferred for:
- the high mechanical performance;
- the hardening speed.
In a period in which much and quickly had to be built, concrete responded precisely to the construction needs of the time. At the time, unfortunately, there was no precise knowledge of the problems linked to the abuse of the cement component.
When did we start talking about CHEMICAL ADDITIVES in plasters?
Pretty soon, actually. Fassa Bortolo already in the first formulations it began to offer the market more “calibrated” plasters through the inclusion of additives: this meant on the one hand calibrate the percentage of cement more correctly and on the other improve some characteristics of the plastersfor example:
- make fresh plaster easier to apply and work with;
- reduce the specific weight;
- provide breathability and in some cases water repellency.
When we talk about additives, we consider that they are elements present in very low doses, which have little impact on the naturalness of the product, in the sense that they fundamentally do not involve emissions of volatile organic substances, compared to a decisive improvement in the quality of the product.
Construction products: regulations and directives
When were the first product regulations introduced?
If in previous years product evolutions were driven by the resourcefulness of companies, in the 200s0 there has been an important change of perspective and theEuropean Union in particular begins to adopt a series of regulations that regulate the composition of products, their performance and how they are tested. These were the years in which there was a clear awareness of the long-term problems of products with excessive cement content and the dangers of some substances. For example, at that time limits were placed on the content of hexavalent chromium.
A limitation or an opportunity?
Don’t all these directives represent a limitation for you in the possibility of developing new products?
In my opinion we can see them as a limitation but also as an opportunityin the sense that our know-how always allows us to experiment, to carry out exploratory studies and look for solutions that can make our more effective products with a lower environmental impact.
Chemistry today can prove to be a great ally in helping to solve environmental problems.
High-performance, healthy and low environmental impact products to improve the quality standards of construction
In the second decade of the 2000s, once the theme of quality understood as “performance” was cleared, is it true that attention shifted to the concept of “LIVING COMFORT”?
The house is no longer seen simply as a space that protects from the outside, the focus shifts to the user’s point of view and his 360° state of well-being. This means studying solutions that are primarily useful for ensuring, for example, a greater breathability to avoid the proliferation of mould, to improve thermal insulation, etc.and secondly they are not themselves cause of possible internal pollutionand therefore do not emit VOC, Volatile Organic Compounds as dangerous as formaldehyde. This means carrying out in-depth checks and analyses, using complex equipment.
Fassa I-Lab is equipped with special test chambers, inside which the products are placed. The substances emitted are sampled and subsequently analyzed using a combination of sophisticated instruments capable of determining them qualitatively and quantitatively.
To protect the consumer, certifications with relative emission classes have been created in some European states such as France, Germany and Belgium. Unfortunately, At present, there is no single European regulation relating to the emission of volatile organic substances.
Perhaps generating greater confusion is also the birth of a series of independent certifications regarding the healthiness of the products.
In a situation in which comparing the healthiness of a product with others on the market is not easy, it must however be acknowledged that these certifications are important guarantee tools for consumers and increase the value of properties: also for this reason we adhere to all the most important and we have a team that deals exclusively with following the certification processes.
What specific initiatives have been adopted in construction to promote the circular economy and reduce environmental impact?
In recent years the commune concern regarding the indiscriminate consumption of natural resources has pushed each production sector to analyze its own production chain and to try to reduce and optimize your consumption, reducing waste or reusing materials that are manufacturing waste.
National and community protocols and directives are increasingly thinking from a circular economy perspective. In construction this has translated, for example, into CAM, Minimum Environmental Criteriawhich provide for some types of produced a mandatory minimum percentage of recycled materialwhile for other types the possible recycled content is still considered as a rewarding requirement.
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