Feng Yu United Engineering introduced aluminum alloy system formwork into the construction process, which can improve construction precision and accuracy; the formwork is highly durable and when damaged can be recycled and recast, reducing waste and carbon emissions.
In the construction process, wooden formwork needs to be replaced after about 6 times. Wooden formwork that has cement on it is not easy to recycle and is usually sent to the incinerator. In addition, traditional wooden formwork requires additional stone work and finishing after removing the formwork to account for imprecisions in the structure, which further increases carbon emissions. Feng Yu, breaking away from traditional practices, adopted an aluminum alloy system formwork construction method, which helps to reduce waste and conserve materials.
Materials Recycling
The aluminum alloy system formwork is very durable and can be used more than 100 times. After finishing the project, about 70% of the aluminum alloy system formwork can be transferred to the next project. If the formwork reaches the limit of durability, it can be recycled and recast into aluminum ingots, which can be extracted at an aluminum extrusion factory and processed into a new aluminum alloy formwork.
Making Construction Precise to Help Conserve Materials
The aluminum alloy system formwork has high strength, and it has precision after assembly on the order of millimeters. The concrete surface remains smooth after removal of the formwork, and horizontal and vertical errors can be kept within 5mm. It only needs to be finished with a thin skim coat, reducing waste generated by masonry work.
System formwork is modularized and usually incremented at 5cm. The corresponding structural dimensions are also incremented at 5cm as much as possible, making the system formwork more easily reused while reducing the need for many scattered sizes for templates.
Benefits
Looking at the NCHC Cloud Data Center that used aluminum alloy system formwork as an example [1],
- Reducing about 15 tons of wood formwork waste and cement materials,
- Reducing carbon emissions by approximately 63.3%.
[1] The NCHC Cloud Data Center features a ceiling height of 5.7 metersand consists of 5 floors. The total area of the wooden formwork to be replaced is 12,189 square meters.