Apartment Buildings for Asunto Oy Klovinkukkula

Foamit Foam Glass Used as Lightweight Fill for Air Raid Shelter Roofs

Foamit foam glass aggregate, which already had an established position in infrastructure construction, was also gaining a foothold in housebuilding as a lightening and thermal insulation material. At YIT Rakennus Oy’s apartment construction site in Mankkaa, the contractor chose Foamit as a new alternative to a conventional solution.

The widespread use of turnkey construction in housebuilding meant that, ultimately, the contractor specified which materials and technical solutions were used on the site, although designers were also consulted for their expertise. Self-financed construction required an increasingly responsible approach to keeping structures and the building as a whole in good condition throughout the design life of the building.

We also discussed environmental perspectives in project groups. We took a positive approach to products that promoted the circular economy and sustainable development. Foam glass aggregate was one such product. Our first experience with the product showed it to be technically very functional, so I thought it was highly likely that it would become more commonplace on our sites.

Juha Muukkonen, responsible foreman, YIT Rakennus Oy

Muukkonen, who has more than 20 years of experience as a foreman on housebuilding sites, took things one step at a time – he started by gaining experience using the product on a single project. On the construction site of the Asunto Oy Klovinkukkula housing company, Foamit foam glass was used as a filler for the concrete roof of the air raid shelter.

We first intended to use macadam, but we decided on Foamit because it was easy to transport and spread and had good load-bearing properties. Foamit also fit in with our environmental goals, so it was a natural choice

Muukkonen said.

Ready in an Hour

On the day the Foamit was installed on the apartment building site, temperatures were well below zero. Anpe Oy sent a foam glass transportation and pumping vehicle to the site at 8 a.m. Despite the freezing conditions, it did not take long to prepare for pumping and, once the pump got up to speed, the structural layer was soon complete.

He said that he was pleasantly surprised to learn that the new product had nothing but positive features for this worksite. In addition to recyclability, Muukkonen valued the good load-bearing capacity of foam glass aggregate. Muukkonen said:

Whichever application you thought of, the load-bearing capacity of a foam glass aggregate layer was a huge benefit. It became a good platform to work on, and concrete could be cast without fear of thickness fluctuations due to ‘bubbling’ in the platform.

The site Muukkonen was working on included two apartment buildings, the first of which was completed in October 2018 and the second in February 2019.

It seemed fairly certain that I would use even more Foamit on the second site. The product had advantages that made it highly suitable for use as thermal insulation as well as an infill material to replace stone aggregate,

Muukkonen ended.

u003ch3u003eI was expecting installation to take a few hours. The effective installation time ended up being less than an hour. In that time, the roofs of all four air raid shelters were insulated with a 20-centimeter layer of foam glass aggregate.u003c/h3u003ernu0026nbsp;rnu003cp style=u0022text-align: rightu0022u003eu003cemu003eJuha Muukkonen, responsible foreman, YIT Rakennus Oyu003c/emu003eu003c/pu003e

Timi Lehtilä (vas) ja Jani Räsänen