Xypex® Admix Makes Designing with Concrete Possible for Green Building in Palo Alto, CA

Dec. 21, 2011 - PRLog -- PHOTOS: http://lopressroom.com/xypex-102-University-Avenue


VANCOUVER, BC… The concrete facade of a modern, minimalist building project–a mixed-use development designed to achieve LEED® Platinum certification, which serves as a vibrant urban entrance to Palo Alto, CA–was made possible by using an innovative concrete mix   containing Xypex® Admix.  

Common concerns to architects who want to use concrete as a design element–water seepage, efflorescence, and rebar corrosion–were avoided with a 70 percent slag concrete mix combined with Xypex Admix used for the 3,600 cubic yards required for the building’s façade.

“The Xypex/slag combination created the densest, most durable, waterproof concrete that we have yet been able to produce,” said Joseph Bellomo, principal architect of Joseph Bellomo Architects, Inc., headquartered at 102 University Avenue in Palo Alto, with an office in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.

An established green technology to waterproof, protect and repair concrete structures, Xypex Chemical Corporation’s proprietary Concrete Waterproofing by Crystallization™ is judged to be effective, efficient and economical for a wide variety of new and existing applications.

Bellomo had these additional observations about the Xypex/slag mixture:  “There is no porosity and no signs of efflorescence in the concrete.  It is ideal for indoor/outdoor facades, integrated drip edges and tight reinforcement.”

102 University, completed late last year, is four stories tall with subterranean parking and a roof garden.  The first and second floors are commercial space with three two-story town homes accessed through a third floor common area.  Each residential unit has a private green roof.   The building is just down the road (less than three miles) from Stanford University.

Xypex Waterproofing by Crystallization uses concrete’s inherent water permeability to deliver crystalline chemicals that plug the material’s pores and bridge micro-cracks that occur as the concrete dries and shrinks.

The crystalline waterproofing chemistry can be easily introduced into new concrete as an admixture, a dry-shake product, or a surface-applied coating. For existing (i.e., cured) concrete, surface-applied coatings are used.

Because concrete is permeable to liquids and gases, porous conditions can create multiple problems within a building or other structure due to moisture penetration. The infiltrating water, and harmful chemicals dissolved within, also can compromise the concrete.

The Xypex Crystalline technology uses water in the capillary tracts as a diffusing medium to carry waterproofing chemicals into the concrete. The chemicals migrate through the waterways of the saturated pore network, where they react and grow non-soluble, needle-like crystals that plug the pores. Within a few weeks of crystal growth, liquids can no longer pass through and the transmission of gases is significantly restricted.

The effect is permanent. In fact, the technology will even self-seal new micro-cracks if and when they occur years after the original application.

Crystalline waterproofing protects the environment from contamination caused by wastewater leakage and makes the construction process greener by eliminating the need for membranes manufactured with plastics, asphalt, polymer resins, solvents, aromatics and other materials with high energy manufacturing costs.  

The Xypex crystalline waterproofing technology is non-toxic, contains no VOC's (volatile organic compounds), and is NSF-61 approved for potable water by NSF International, a widely-accepted, independent source of public health and safety standards around the world.

Xypex Chemical Corporation (www.Xypex.com) is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of products to waterproof, protect and repair concrete structures, a proven solution for both new and existing applications. Since 1970, the Xypex family of diverse products has evolved around the proprietary, groundbreaking Xypex Concrete Waterproofing by Crystallization™ technology, which set a new international standard of excellence and brought effective, efficient and economical concrete waterproofing to thousands of projects around the globe. Applications include Building Design and Construction; Water & Wastewater Treatment; Water Holding; Below Grade Structures; Tunnels; Bridges; Marine Structures; Dams, and more. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, Xypex sustains a distribution and service network in more than 70 countries.

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Xypex Chemical Corporation is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of products to waterproof, protect and repair concrete structures, a proven solution for both new and existing applications.