ME020 - Does Speed Always Come At The Expense Of Quality?
A self-adhesive EPDM Membrane is used to create water and airtight seals around openings such as windows, doors and SFS sections on construction projects. With the lack of materials to support the application, it poses the question of whether self-adhesives membranes are as effective as other membranes when it comes to providing breathability, weather resistance and fire resistance.
What are the characteristics of the ME020 and how do these provide superior air quality?
EC1PLUS Standard
ME020 FR Window and Door Sealing Membrane meets theEMICODE® EC1 PLUS standard; with EMICODE® EC1 PLUS being the highest standard available. The scale measures the air quality emissions from construction projects including the likes of sealants and joining products.
Illbruck’s ME020 has been tested and proven to provide superior air quality, protecting against the emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), which are made up of gaseous, liquid and solid chemicals. VOCs particularly impact the quality of air within rate an indoor space, so providing the highest level of protection to decrease these levels is highly important.
The fact that ME020 is a self-adhesive membrane and provides such a high level of protection to bolster air quality, makes it a firm choice for high-risk, high-rise buildings which are open to the elements.
Weathertightness
Protection against the weather and outside environment serves as the primary function of any building, without this weathertight protection these structures are left vulnerable to the elements. The ME020 has also been tested to W1+ industry standards, protecting the building from wind driven rain, driven rain and harsh environmental conditions, ensuring building integrity in even the most challenging climates.
Fire Resistance - B Classification Reaction to Fire
ME020 delivers a Class B fire protection performance when directly installed over a wide range of A1, or A2-s1,s0 substrates. Recent updates to Approved Document B (ADB) now require that any membranes applied to external walls of relevant and in-scope buildings in England must achieve a minimum reaction to fire rating of Class B-s3, d0 in accordance with EN 13501-1. This ensures enhanced fire performance and regulatory compliance for facade and wall applications. With this in mind, ME020 delivers on the expectations outlined by the UK Building Regulations without compromising on the speed and ease of application. Read more about it here: Fire Rated Membranes | illbruck UK
Why have installers avoided using self-adhesive in the past and why is ME020 different?
Alistair Inglis, illbruck Sales Director Said, ‘Our illbruck brand has a long history of innovation in window sealing. Unlike other manufacturers, we offer a range of technologies to ensure our customers’ needs are met from a technical and application perspective.
Self-adhesive window and door sealing membranes preferred by many customers who value time saving and our self-adhesive membranes are some of our best-selling illbruck products.
Until now we have not been able to provide a self-adhesive window and door sealing membrane that also met Class B reaction to Fire, but that gap is now filled with our ME020.
We are proud of our innovation in this area. Adding an adhesive to a membrane, adds to the calorific value, so creating a product that still meets class B reaction to fire plus our other key criteria is not straightforward!.
A membrane used to seal critical junctions must also have great weather performance as its key function but also be vapour permeable so not to trap moisture causing long term damage, damp and mould; it should also have good UV performance.
Full credit to our R&D team. They have developed another new class leading product that meets our changing UK climate needs and gives our customer who require a Class B membrane option, to go with our plain ME007 membrane bonded with SP025 adhesive or to now use our ME020 full self-adhesive solution.’
Find out more about illbruck’s Rapid Sealing Solutions with Class B Fire Rated Window and Door Sealing Membrane + (ME020) | Illbruck
Contact the team: Contact Us | illbruck UK
