20
21
FROM THE JOBSITE
FROM THE JOBSITE
PasiMakkonen
ProjectManagerBuilding
Services at SwecoTalotek-
niikkaOy (Oulu):
“WespecifiedArmaflexUltima for insulating technical installations
in the new research and teaching centre at the Department of
Biology at theUniversity of Oulu. It is theonly insulationmaterial
whichprovides the coolingwater pipes andair ductswith reliable
protection against condensation and energy losses and at the
same time fulfils the required fire class B
L
-s1, d0 of the Finnish
building code.”
Fireprotection is thehighestpriority
ArmaflexUltima in the researchand teach-
ing centreof theDepartment of Biologyat
theUniversityofOulu (Finland)
TheFinnisheducationsystem isoneof thebest in theworldand regularly
receives topmarks in theOECD’sPISAstudies.One reason for thissuccess
isFinland’shigh investment ineducation– in the infrastructure, too.
Oneof the country’s largest universities is located in the city of Oulu in
the north of Finland. On the main campus in Linnanmaa, the Depart-
ment of Biology in the Faculty of Science has just beenmodernized. In
theproject, theexisting roomswere integrated intoaunifiedwholeand
new roomswereadded tohouse the technical facilities for the laborato-
ries. Project management and consulting company Promen Oy imple-
mented theprinciplesof activity-basedworking in thedesign.
Smoke-free technical insulation for greater safety ina fire
SwecoTalotekniikkaOy, a subsidiaryof the leadingSwedishconsultancy
forengineeringservicesandenvironmental technology,was responsible
for designing the building services. Project manager Pasi Makkonen
specified Armaflex Ultimamade by Armacell for insulating the cooling
water pipes and air ducts of the air-conditioning systems aswell as the
coldwater pipes. In the European fire test, the elastomeric foam is the
only FEF insulationmaterial to achieve fire class B
L
-s1, d0, the best fire
class for organic materials.
Legislators in many European countries have recognized that smoke
poses amuchhigher hazardpotential than the fire itself andhave tight-
ened the requirements regarding the smoke development of building
products in their building regulations. InFinland, dependingon theuse,
size and occupancy of the building only technical insulation materials
which achieve at least fire class B
L
-s1, d0 may be used in very many
areas.
ArmaflexUltima reliablyprotectspipesand fittingsagainst con-
densationandenergy losses
The insulation contractors Kymppi Talotekniikka Oy (Oulu) installed
ArmaflexUltima to protect the coolingwater pipes, with line tempera-
turesof 7 °C (feed) and12 °C (return), andairducts in thenew research
and teaching centreagainst condensationandenergy losses. FromApril
to July 2015 twoof the company’s employees applied some1,500mof
tubes and500m
2
of sheetmaterial inan insulation thickness of 13mm
on the pipes with diameters ranging from 18 to 76mm. The Armacell
insulationmaterialwasgluedwithArmaflexUltima700adhesive,which
was specially developed for installingArmaprene caoutchouc products.
The insulationmaterialwas suppliedby LektarOy (Helsinki).
(Petri Ojanen)
