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AAC for Modern Architecture

AAC home building material
The material of the future

One of the goals of this blog is to introduce new products to the American market which can greatly advance building techniques. One of these lesser known new products is "Autoclaved Aerated Concrete" otherwise known as AAC. AAC is the material of the future and its perfect to build modern homes. AAC saves you money and is far better compared to other building materials.

Below: YTONG is the brand name for AAC in Europe, in the USA it is sold under the name Hebel through Xella.





Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC) is the material of the future. AAC is produces by several companies, one of the biggest being YTONG. Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (AAC), or otherwise known as Autoclave Cellular Concrete (ACC), is a lightweight, precast building material. AAC has been used for over 70 years in Europe (under various brand names like YTONG, Hebel, Silka, Multipor, etc) and is now available in the USA under the brand name Hebel, through Xella. The material is not yet well known about architects in the USA so defintitely check this out. This may very well be the building material of the future. AAC is an environmentally friendly, easy-to-instal and highly efficient alternative to conventional insulating materials. Lots of modern prefab buildings in Europe are made with AAC.

Autoclaved Aerated concrete (AAC), or otherwise known as Autoclave Cellular Concrete (ACC), is a lightweight, precast building material. AAC provides structure, insulation, fire and mold resistance in a single material. AAC products include blocks, wall panels, floor and roof panels, and lintels.

It has since been refined into a high thermally insulating concrete-based material used for construction both internally and externally. Besides insulating capability, one of AAC's advantages in construction is its quick and easy installation since the material can be routed, sanded and cut to size on site using standard carbon tip band saws, hand saws and drills.

Even though regular cement mortar can be used, 98% of the buildings erected with AAC materials uses thin bed mortar, which comes to deployment in a thickness of 1/8 inch. This varies on national building codes and creates solid and compact building members. AAC material can be coated with a stucco compound or plaster against the elements. Siding materials such as brick or vinyl siding can also be used to cover the outside of AAC materials.

Produced for more than 70 years, AAC offers considerable advantages over other construction materials, one of the most important being its very low environmental impact.

AAC’s high resource efficiency gives it low environmental impact in all phases of its life cycle, from processing of raw materials to the disposal of AAC waste.

AAC’s light weight also saves energy in transportation. The fact that AAC is up to five times lighter than concrete leads to significant reductions in CO2 emissions during transport. To reduce the need for transportation, AAC manufacturers apply the principle of producing as near to their consumer market as possible.

AAC’s excellent thermal efficiency makes a major contribution to environmental protection by sharply reducing the need for space heating and cooling in buildings.

In addition, AAC’s easy workability allows accurate cutting that minimizes the generation of solid waste during use. Unlike other building materials AAC can eliminate the need to be used in combination with insulation products, which increase the environmental impact and cost of construction




Just to show you what can be done with AAC, check this website from Spain for a couple of modern homes that were made almost entirely with AAC:
http://www.1st2spain.com/villadesigns3.html

How to get information: contact Xella which is the USA manufacturer and distributor of the AAC building blocks. They can direct you to builders they have worked with in your area.

Check this website:
http://www.ecostein.ie

Contact Xella:
http://www.xella-usa.com

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