ETFE – Rising In Popularity And Preference - Tuflite

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Plastic polymers were once considered inferior to
be accepted into the construction industry. They
were restricted to usage in indoor residential
and commercial applications, but were never
thought of being used in full-scale building
applications. However, the technological
advancements have now made certain plastic
polymers like ETFE a popular choice among
architects. End users as well as construction
professionals have now started realizing the
benefits of ETFE, which has brought it immense
amount of popularity and preference today.
While ETFE was originally developed in the 1970s
by DuPont, it only started becoming a popular
material since 2008, when it was used
successfully on the facade of PTW Architects
Water Cube for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This
fluorine-based plastic is a lightweight, heat
resistant material that has been used in many
other varied kinds of applications like coatings
for the aerospace industry, agricultural
applications like greenhouses, and much more.
But, the widest usage today of ETFE is being
seen in architectural applications. Today, in
this blog, we will let you know about some of
the most famous architectural constructions that
have used ETFE as its chief material. Eden
Project In 2001, ETFE saw its first large-scale
application as the encapsulating membrane of the
Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, which was a natural
evolution of Buckminster Fullers Biosphere
concept. ETFE was selected here due to its
ability to reliably regulate environmental
conditions within the structure through UV
transparency. It could be printed with patterns,
and layered to control solar conditions, which
was essential to house climate- specific flora.
Moreover, it was also realized that the material
has a low friction coefficient
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that prevents dirt and dust from sticking to its
surface, thus reducing maintenance
requirements. Alliaz Stadium The next ETFE
structure built was the Allianz Stadium with 2874
ETFE foil air panels, inflated with dry air. The
panels are individually lit with a preferred
colour for every game played, with the colours
preferably of the respective home team. The main
colours are red for Bayern Munich, blue for TSV,
and white for the German national football
team. Watercube National Swimming Centre As
spoken of above, this was the structure that
caught everyones attention and made ETFE a
popular constructional material. The ETFE was
not used as a foil, but rather as cushions, which
were continually filled with air to form a
pneumatic system that provided thermal insulation
and structural stability against wind and snow
loads. Here also, the ETFE panels could be lit
with colour-changing LEDs to create amazing
patterns, allowing the structure to reflect
whatever event was taking place inside. Others
These are the three most famous structures made
with ETFE. There is a very long list of other
popular structures that have used ETFE as their
major building material. These include Foster
Partners SSE Hydro Arena, 360 Architectures New
Atlanta Stadium, ACXTs San Mames Stadium, and
U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. Additionally,
ETFE has also seen acceptance in many other
non-sports architectural constructions like in
the 2015 Serpentine Gallery Pavilion and the
U.S. Embassy in London. You can also add your
building to the list of amazingly built ETFE
structures by getting the best ETFE films and
cushions (whatever your building requires) from
leading ETFE suppliers in India like Tuflite
Polymers, who has partnered with the most reputed
Vector Foiltec in 2017 to provide the Indian
subcontinent with this amazing material in its
best quality and standards.