High insulating fiberglass window and curtain wall profiles

Project Information

FIBGLOW

Grant agreement ID: 673878

DOI

10.3030/673878

Project closed

EC signature date 28 April 2015

Start date 1 May 2015

End date 31 August 2015

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

GUALINI SPA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FIBGLOW (High insulating fiberglass window and curtain wall profiles)

Reporting period: 2015-05-01 to 2015-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Our company, GUALINI SPA, is among the leading firms in Italy specialized in the design, engineering, production and installation of windows & curtain walls, with turnovers of €15 million in 2015. Our 26 years of experience within the window and curtain wall industry enabled us to identify the need for effective window profiles, as windows and curtain wall are responsible for about 30-50% of the heat loss of buildings, and current materials used for profiles are ineffective in terms of energy efficiency and/or mechanical properties.
Therefore, we began to developed FIBGLOW,our value proposition for European construction companies, window and curtain wall profiles retailers and installers who require enhanced energy efficient materials for window and curtain walls profiles: based on fiberglass “threads” embedded into a unique inorganic aqueous-based resin, our FIBGLOW profiles present the following outstanding properties: U-value of 0.26 outstanding fire resistance (Euroclass A1), high mechanical properties (Young Modulus of 21.3 GPa) and great durabiltity (38% longer than PVC).
The main objective of our FIBLGOW Project is to enable us, GUALINI S.p.A. to lead the window and curtain wall profile market through the introduction of innovative fiberglass products in the European market, and expand our scope to other countries thanks to the outstanding performance of our profiles compared to products currently in the market.
This is directly related to our financial objective, which is to sensibly grow the business, increasing our current production of 42,000 m2 per year to 132,450 m2 in 2022, of which 25,900 m2 (i.e. a 20%) will be FIBGLOW products, and duplicate our current revenues with sales of these products.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the four months of Phase 1 Execution we have developed a Feasability Study focused on three main areas:
Technical: as our prototype was based on the unique characteristics of our innovative inorganic resin we have continued with the tests so as to improve its formulation and optimize it for the pultrusion process. We have also assessed additional ways- not related to the formulation itself- to enhance the properties of the final product.
Commercial: we performed a detailed market analysis of the window and curtain wall markets, so as to further develop the preliminary marketing strategy that was described in Phase 1. We also carried out a thorough Freedom to Operate analysis so as to guarantee the “viability to commercialize FIBGLOW without infringing third parties’ intellectual property rights.
Economic: we updated the economic projections presented in the Phase 1 based on the market analysis performed, which enabled us to evaluate the potential Return on Investment of the Project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Expected final results: to deliver to market a new generation of window and curtain wall profiles with enhanced thermal insulation, mechanical and fire resistance properties that will have a significant impact for:
- Our company: enabling us to overtake our competitors in the race to introduce fiberglass-based solutions in the European market, duplicate our revenues by 2022 and expand our global business
- The EU window and curtain wall industry: introducing and exploiting a new range of materials for profiles (fiberglass) which is currently almost inexistent in the EU, and increasing its competitiveness, becoming a competitor to other countries manufacturing this kind of profiles, and enabling significant reductions in energy consumption of buildings and CO2 emissions.
-For customers worldwide: FIBGLOW will enable enhance the energy efficiency of the building in which FIBGLOW products are installed (with energy savings of up to 2.06% per year) at a cost-effective and competitive price.

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