Stone Panel Signage

Posted on August 26, 2008
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www.stoneply.comThere are several benefits to StonePly stone panel signs.  StonePly incorporates real granite, marble, or onyx with lightweight honeycomb panels.  This creates an elegant and rememberable sign that will show the true class of any business.  The signage can be incoporated with any StonePly design.  StonePly Stone Panel Signs can have any finish including, sandblasted, etched, polished, honed, etc and can be made to any size or shape.  If you can imagine it we can create it.  These lightweight stone signs can be used for a variety of applications including on walls, in elevators, and for company signs.

StonePly and the Environment

Posted on May 23, 2008
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StonePly offers several ecological benefits:

· Low Weight

· Recycled Content

· Energy Efficient

· Recyclable

· Sustainability

Low Weight

StonePly weighs up to 80% less than traditional stone panel cladding systems. Because it weighs less, the transportation cost and fuel usage is reduced, reducing pollution. Another benefit of having light weight stone cladding is that it puts less of a load on the building. This will in turn reduce the amount of structural steel needed to support the cladding. Compared to conventional stone cladding, the lower weight of StonePly provides invaluable protection against the threat of falling cladding in the event of an earthquake or other seismic activity. During renovations, StonePly can often be installed over existing cladding without extra steel support.

Recycled Content

StonePly stone panels can have up to 60% recycled aluminum content. This is better than many conventional stone cladding materials, which have considerably shorter lives and use new raw materials in their manufacture.

Energy Efficient

The aluminum substrate on the StonePly acts as a reflective barrier for the radiated heat. The low thermal mass of StonePly causes the heat to dissipate quickly once the sun goes down or is hidden behind a cloud. Thick stone cladding without any aluminum reinforcement has a greater thermal mass and will capture heat and radiate the heat into the building even when the sun is not shining.

Recyclable

While StonePly is known for having an extremely long life, StonePly stone panels have the added bonus of being close to 100% recyclable. If the cladding is ever removed for remodeling or renovation, the StonePly stone panels can be reused or they can be recycled. Whereas other cladding materials are often disposed of by the ton in dumps and landfills, the aluminum used in StonePly can be recycled in its entirety and the stone can crushed for use as road base and aggregate.

Sustainability

StonePly’s long term durability can help eliminate the future need for more cladding materials. StonePly stone cladding panels are virtually unaffected by UV rays of the sun that break down and fade paints and finishes. Painted metal panels can and will fade over time. Some metals will rust. But the natural stone facing of StonePly stone cladding will last and last. In addition, granite clad StonePly is able to hold up to all types of weather: hurricanes, windstorms, rain, hail, snow and ice. In fact, no other cladding material has a greater ability to stand up to the effects of time and a wide range of severe weather conditions than StonePly natural stone panels. By choosing long lived building products like StonePly you reduce the need for replacements.

Cladding is a major component of any building and it is a component for which the product chosen can have a dramatic and lasting effect on the building’s ecological impact, life cycle costs, and energy use. No other cladding can compare to the StonePly combination of advantages in recycled content, energy efficiency, and sustainability. Please see StonePly and LEED for more information on becoming LEED certified.

Stone cladding: Life Cycle Cost / Durability

Posted on February 6, 2008
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Stone cladding: Life Cycle Cost / Durability

In considering exterior cladding alternatives, the design life of the building should be considered. Stone weathers at different rates depending on the variety selected. Most granites weather at rates in the mm per thousand years. Many marbles and limestones also offer rates of weathering measured in millennia. Using StonePly, a low maintenance façade can be designed to match the intended life of a building. This durability provides substantial long-term savings in reduced maintenance, less disruption and greater value to tenants both now and in the future. Tenants perceive stone cladding as a high value, quality building which commands higher rents. The long lasting good looks of StonePly cladding helps ensure that the buildings value remains, both now and in the future.

Stone panel impact resistance.

Unlike solid stone cladding slabs, StonePly does not experience “brittle failure”

. The aluminum honeycomb gives the stone panels a ductile ability to bend. In catastrophic sudden impact (earthquake or explosion), the fractured stone micro-cracks and tends to be held together by the glass fibers.

Initial Cost

In construction, faster building completion reduces the costs of interim financing, produces an earlier cash flow, provides a competitive advantage and offers several other benefits to the bottom line. These initial savings lower the building’s long-term overall cost and can make the use of StonePly cladding panels more economical than other cladding materials.

The light weight of a StonePly façade reduces the hoisting equipment needed for erection, cuts back shipping and handling costs and can reduce the structural load on the building. The greater efficiency can result in a less costly architectural cladding.

StonePly cladding can be used with a variety of substrates and can be incorporated into a variety of systems. StonePly cladding panels work in curtain wall systems and rain-screen cladding, and can be applied over metal stud and sheathing, cmu or concrete.

Energy Efficiency

The thin StonePly cladding panels offer the thermal benefits of the aluminum reinforcing and the honeycomb core on the back of the stone panel. The aluminum reflects back radiant heat. This can help reduce cooling costs in the summer and heating costs in the winter. The thin StonePly panels also allow more room for insulation within the wall cavity.

Architectural Stone Cladding: Using stones strengths and overcoming stones weaknesses.

Posted on February 6, 2008
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Greek Temple The lesson of the Greek temple: Thousands of years ago people discovered that stone was a great building material. Look at all the advantages: Stone lasts for ages in all kinds of weather, stone is durable and not easily damaged, and stone looks great. They also learned that stone had some shortcomings. While solid stone can withstand very high compression forces (a pushing force), it is much weaker under tension (a pulling force). To overcome this weakness the early builders had to use very short spans of stone. The principle can be seen in the columns of a Greek temple. The Greeks columns were spaced very close together to prevent the stone beams they supported from breaking due to tension.

Later, people used iron, wood or steel for construction because of their higher tensile strength. But these other materials lacked stones long term durability, resistance to fire and resistance to rust, rot and corrosion.

Today, StonePly offers architects and builders the best of both worlds. StonePly combines the durability, beauty and strength of stone and with the high tensile strength, impact resistance, lightweight and ease of use of aluminum. The stone provides the durable good looks and weather resistance while the aviation type advanced aluminum honeycomb composites provide the strength. StonePly cladding goes up faster, stronger and with less load on the building structure. StonePly stone panels are easier to handle and easier to transport. StonePly stone panels have 60 times the impact strength of solid granite. In addition, large 4’ by 8’ panels can be used.

Have Questions? Need design details? Call us, we are here to help. Our experts will assist you with panel sizes, stone options and attachment options.

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