Ceramics for facade applications

The ventilated façade is a system where the external walls of a building are clad with mechanical fastening and hanging devices.
The system includes a space where a thermal-insulating panel can be fixed on the wall of the building and which also allows for an adequate circulation of rising air (chimney-stack effect).
Ventilated façades protect the building against weather and contaminating agents, but also offers remarkable advantages in terms of thermal and acoustic insulation and can be considered among the most effective outer coverings as they:
- protect the main walls
- allow energy savings
- eliminate thermal bridges
- eliminate surface condensation
- enhance the look of the building
- retain original technical and aesthetical features over time
- are a practical solution in renovations

The large sizes and the broad range of Casalgrande Padana stoneware slabs allow cladding of large vertical, inclined and curved surfaces; thus designers are free to express their architectural ideas without constraints.
The fields of application embrace all types of construction ranging from public and service buildings to shopping and business centers, prestigious office blocks, industrial and residential constructions.
Different sizes and colors together with particular surface textures are available for all these sectors and all of them are suitable for fixing with both visible invisible fastening systems.
For new buildings but also for renovations the ventilated façades with porcelain slabs offer remarkable advantages in both economic and aesthetical terms.

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Large-size porcelain stoneware slabs, elegant and sophisticated look, together with easy cleaning and maintenance, thanks to the new Bios Self-Cleaning® , are the main reasons for using ceramic slabs for external cladding systems.

Casalgrande Padana Granitogres,Pietre Native, and Granitoker slabs are particularly indicated for this type of applications, thanks to their technical features, such as frost resistance, non-absorbance, high bending strength, and high resistance to chemicals, weather agents, and pollutants.
The new SOTTILE range of slabs (only 4.9 mm thick) expands the scope of application to all types of solutions that require lightness and reduced thickness.

SOTTILE is available for the Pietre di Sardegna and Pietre Etrusche series of the Pietre Native line in the following sizes: 45x45 cm, 45x90 cm, 60x60 cm, 60x120 cm, and submultiples.
Both the standard slabs (10.5 mm thick) and the new SOTTILE ones (4.9 mm thick) provide designers with innovative architectural and technological solutions for the external cladding of new and redeveloped buildings with both traditional adhesive and more recent coating systems.
In addition to the technical and aesthetic criteria to select the ceramic material the application of ceramic on façades must be guided by a suitable design process that takes the type of structure, quality of the substrate, environmental conditions, and the objectives aimed at with the cladding.
Adhesives, adhesives, grouting mortars and sealants must be identified together with major adhesive and filler manufacturers.

It is important to stress that some regulations, establish that façade slabs over a certain size and beyond a certain height must be installed with a mixed adhesive + safety clip system.
Architects often choose this mixed system even when the type of substrate, weather conditions, installation conditions, and slab size make it important to interpose a mechanical clip between the substrate and the slab.
Casalgrande Padana provides two systems with safety clips interposed between the adhesive and the slab: the CP-KERCLIP system with exposed clips and the CP-KERFIX system with recessed clips.

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The “Cappotto” thermal coating system is a multilayer coating that increases the thermal insulation and soundproofing of a building and mainly consists of insulation panels and porcelain slabs cladding on the outer walls. This improves the energy efficiency of the building and eliminates the thermal bridges that are responsible for heat dispersion, condensation and local moulds.
The demand for durable and more attractive surface finishes has resulted in the development of specific products and systems for the installation of porcelain slabs on the insulation panels to create the “Cappotto” thermal coating system.
SOTTILE, the Casalgrande Padana’s range of 4,9 mm thick porcelain slabs, certainly meets the technical and aesthetical requirements of this special application. Lightweight, frost-proof, watertight, easy to clean and low maintenance, the SOTTILE slabs stand out for their high resistance to wear, abrasion, chemical attacks, weather and pollutants, and offer lots of chances to be creative thanks to the variety of colours and surfaces at disposal.
TheSOTTILE porcelain slabs are available in the Pietre di Sardegna and Pietre Etrusche series (Line Pietre Native) in sizes 45x45 cm, 45x90 cm, 60x60 cm, 60x120 cm and submultiples. Thanks to its easy installation and its thermal efficiency, the Cappotto thermal coating system with SOTTILE slabs is used in new builds or conversions of residential as well as commercial and service properties.
The SOTTILE slabs can be installed with the Cappotto thermal coating system in buildings up to about 20 metres high with a max slab size of 60x120 cm. 
As to the shades of the ceramic slabs, pale colours with a refractive index of 20% are preferable.

The use of SOTTILE porcelain slabs with Cappotto thermal coating system provides following benefits and advantages:
- slabs are easy to handle, process, cut and drill;
- have same aesthetic and main technical features of standard porcelain slabs 10,5 mm thick, with the option to mix and match the two materials;
- offer same low maintenance and easy to clean features of other porcelain ceramics;
- a reduced weight on the loadbearing construction;
- a reduced environmental impact due to limited use of raw materials and energy resources in the production process.

The HYDROTECT® technology has been licensed out to over 100 manufacturers all over the world in the most diverse areas of application, from car-making to building. The owner of the patent is the Japanese holding TOTO, a global leader in photo-catalytic technology, with which Casalgrande Padana has entered into a Master Agreement.
With the HYDROTECT® technology, theBios Self-Cleaning® ceramics in facings and ventilated walls provide important responses through their self-cleaning and NOx-reduction properties (NOx are nitrogen oxides and compounds, largely responsible for urban air pollution).
In particular, Bios Self-Cleaning®can combine the well-known aesthetic features and performance of unglazed stoneware ceramic facings with a dramatic reduction in the need to clean or maintain the surfaces, which translates into remarkable savings and a long-lasting quality and appearance of the architectural features. The exclusive formulation of Bios Self-Cleaning® contains titanium dioxide (TiO2), a natural substance traditionally used as a white pigment and to make food additives, toothpaste, makeup and so on.
Because of its titanium dioxide content,
Bios Self-Cleaning® can perform to the highest standards, especially as a facing, to which it adds:
- photo-catalytic properties, which, when triggered by light, can break up the organic substances and pollutants on the tile surface for a self-cleaning, air cleansing effect.
- super-hydrophilic properties, which make the most of its self-cleaning properties.
The higher the UV light on the treated surface, the smaller its angle of contact with water, which after a reasonable time is next to zero.
This means that the water will easily spread and wash off.
Basically, the effect of the titanium dioxide that breaks up the organic matter on the treated surface is supported, through photo-catalysis, by the hydrophilic effect, whereby rainwater washes off any stain from the tile surface.
- antibacterial properties, as a result of the UV rays in sunlight.
Radiation triggers a reaction on the treated surface of the ceramic slabs, which produce active oxygen and decompose bacteria.

The self-cleaning properties of Bios Self-Cleaning® are due to the titanium dioxide contained in the coating, which breaks up any organic matter, combined with the super-hydrophilic action of the surfaces, which are cleaned by the extreme washing effect of rainwater.

The self-cleaning property of Bios Self-Cleaning® is extremely effective and certified, but you should keep in mind that:
- THEY CANNOT remove all the stains that surpass their self-cleaning properties, such as stains that stick to the facing quickly, massively and stubbornly, e.g. silicone sealants.
- THEY CANNOT remove rust or crystals.
- NO self-cleaning process may take place without rain or exposure to UV rays.

One of the main sources of atmospheric pollution, which really threatens human and environmental health, are NOx (nitrogen oxides as combustion by-products) from vehicles, heating and some industrial processes.
The active oxygen (–OH, O2–) produced by the Bios Self-Cleaning® facings oxidises the NOx into non-harmful substances (NO3– water-soluble nitrate), which are washed off by rainwater.
The NO3– oxidised by the photo-catalytic reaction is too little to have any influence on soil acidification.
The guaranteed NOx-reducing properties of Bios Self-Cleaning® make an appreciable contribution to the improvement of the environmental standards of urban settlements.
Just think that a 150 sqmt Bios Self-Cleaning® facing can purify the air like a wood the size of a football pitch or remove the nitrogen oxides (NOx) emitted by 11 cars during one day.

For ventilated façades as well as for direct adhered porcelain slabs, Casalgrande Padana’s wide colour range includes three large colour families, from warmer shades (brown, red, yellow, beige) to neutral shades (white, grey, black) and on to colder shades (blue, pale blue, green).

he look and attractiveness of this colour palette is further enriched by the option to mix and match the colours available in each range, each one having a distinctive texture throughout the body of the slab, not just on the surface. They range from the perfect evenness of the solid colours of the Unicoloreand Architecture ranges to the granite-like textures of the Granito 1, Granito 2, Granito 3, Granito 1 Evo ranges, the soft hues and streaks running all through the marbled textures  ranges, the Pietre Native range, its surfaces redolent of the charms of natural stone, or the modern, sleek surfaces of the Granitoker range. As to formats, besides small sizes and the standard 30x60, 45x45 and 60x60 slabs, Casalgrande Padana can also provide large rectangular slabs, in such sizes as 15x120, 20x120, 30x120, 60x120, 45x90 cm, 90x180cm, 120x120 cm, 120x240 cm, 120x260 cm, 160x320 cm or square ones, such as the new 90x90.

As to surface finishes, Casalgrande Padana’s high-quality ranges include extremely diverse solutions with natural, satin, polished, honed, lapped, gloss, bush-hammered and textured surfaces, so not only the best materials may be selected to suit any special design requirement, but they may also be mixed and matched into unique combinations of different textures.