29 Jun 2005
Roofing Tiles Made of GE’s Co-Extruded Geloy*/PVC Resin Introduce New Color & Style Choices to China’s Construction Market
BERGEN OP ZOOM, THE NETHERLANDS — June 29, 2005 — Chinese apartment buildings and other structures are beginning to sport colorful roofs tiled with tiles made from GE Advanced Materials’ Geloy* resin co-extruded with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) instead of clay and cement tiles, steel roofing sheet, or asphalt shingles. The tiles, which are fabricated from thermoformed decorative roofing sheet produced by molder FangXing Building Materials, not only offer many color and style options, but also help provide superior performance, lighter weight, and lower system cost vs. traditional roofing materials. These advantages led the Shanghai and other municipal governments to choose the roofing tiles for its “Plain to Pitch” project, which is replacing older flat roofs with pitched roofs that resist leaking.
Fueled by booming construction, the Chinese roofing industry is expected to grow more than 10 percent annually to nearly 40 billion yuan in 2008. Although concrete and clay tiles and asphalt shingles currently account for the majority of demand, plastics are a growing segment of the business.
Traditional roofing materials have a number of disadvantages that GE’s new co-extruded Geloy resin helps overcome. Cement and clay tiles are economical but exhibit poor weatherability and appearance, and are heavy and difficult to install. Asphalt shingles are fairly lightweight and weatherable, but require a complicated production and installation process. Although steel roofing sheet has good appearance and is easily installed, it is noisy when it rains and the potential for corrosion around the fitting joints can occur.
In contrast, tiles fabricated from Geloy/PVC resin decorative roofing sheet offer light weight, high impact resistance, easy installation, multiple color choices, and design flexibility that enables a variety of shapes. The tiles are also less noisy during a rainstorm than steel roofing, and provide better waterproofing capability than shingles.
These advantages led FangXing to select the co-extruded GE material over polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) – which broke during installation – for its new decorative roofing sheet. FangXing worked closely with GE Advanced Materials’ development team to learn best practices for molding the Geloy/PVC resin material.
As evidence of the successful collaboration, FangXing’s roofing sheet was selected by the Shanghai government for the Plain to Pitch re-roofing project. “Our work with GE Advanced Materials has allowed our company to offer a new type of roofing sheet to the growing construction industry in China and to win an important government project,” said Ren Guoyong, president of Fangxing.
One of the most weatherable polymers in GE’s portfolio, Geloy ASA resin offers exceptional durability and UV and chemical resistance in outdoor environments. The roofing tiles made with GE’s Geloy resin/PVC co-extrusion retain their attractive appearance, waterproofing, and shape even when exposed to sunlight, moisture, temperature extremes, chemicals, and environmental pollutants. Another advantage of the Geloy/PVC resin co-extrusion is high impact resistance.
“GE’s new Geloy/PVC co-extruded resin for decorative roofing sheet offers the expanding China construction industry a new alternative to traditional roofing materials,” said Glen Zhu, Geloy product manager, Asia-Pacific, GE Advanced Materials. “With its advantages of light weight, easy installation, color choices, and potentially lower system cost, this roofing sheet is an outstanding alternative to many of the existing choices for residential and commercial roofing applications.”
Reader enquiries
GE PlasticsPlasticslaan 1
4600 AC Bergen op Zoom
Netherlands
Helen Vandebovenkamp
helen.vandebovenkamp@ge.com
Tel: +31 164 29 20 97
Fax: +31 164 29 10 66
Netherlands
Notes for editors
About GE Advanced Materials
GE Advanced Materials (www.geadvancedmaterials.com) is a world leader in providing high-technology material solutions. Headquartered in Pittsfield, Mass., its businesses include Plastics, Silicones, Quartz, Automotive, Specialty Film & Sheet, Polymershapes, and Sealants and Adhesives.
GE (NYSE: GE) is Imagination at Work – a diversified technology, media and financial services company focused on solving some of the world's toughest problems. With products and services ranging from aircraft engines, power generation, water processing and security technology to medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and advanced materials, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.ge.com.
* Geloy is a trademark of General Electric Company.
Related images
Roofing Tiles Made from GE’s Geloy* ASA Resin
Fueled by booming construction, the Chinese roofing industry is expected to grow more than 10 percent annually to nearly 40 billion yuan in 2008. As this occurs, Chinese apartment buildings and other structures are beginning to sport colorful roofing tiles made from GE’s Geloy* resin. Geloy resin not only offers many color and style options, but also helps provide outstanding weatherability, lighter weight, and lower system cost vs. traditional roofing materials. These advantages led the Shanghai and other municipal governments to choose roofing tiles made from Geloy resin for its “Plain to Pitch” project, which is replacing older flat roofs with pitched roofs that resist leaking.
Editorial enquiries
Helen Vandebovenkamp
GE Plastics
Folke Markestein
Marketing Solutions NV
fmarkestein@marketingsolutions.be
Jim Allison
AH&M Marketing Communications