(17) Prefabricated Building Panel Products Available in the Market
These include structural boards such as OSB, gypsum board, calcium silicate board, and cement fiberboard.
■ Exterior panels;
■ Interior panels;
1. Uses of Various Types of Boards
Structural panels are suitable for use on both interior and exterior structural wall panels of all building types, including low-rise, mid-rise, and high-rise buildings.
Interior panels are primarily used for interior wall decoration across all building types (low-rise, mid-rise, and high-rise).
Exterior panels serve as exterior wall decoration for low-rise and mid-rise buildings.
2. Sources of Exterior Panel Technology in the Market
North American Style Exterior Panels:
a. PVC hanging boards, sized 200 x 3000 mm with varying thickness, priced around 15-25 yuan/m²;
b. Wood grain cement hanging boards, sized 200 x 3000 x 8 mm, priced approximately 25-45 yuan/m².
PVC Hanging Board
Wood Grain Cement Hanging Board
Japanese Style Exterior Panels:
a. Rijihua exterior wall hanging panel (see Figure 16), sized 400 x 3000 mm with varying thickness, priced around 250-300 yuan/m²;
b. Beixin Jinbang board, sized 400 x 3000 mm with varying thickness, priced approximately 150-250 yuan/m².
The North American style hanging boards are easy to install and do not require specialized mounting accessories.
In contrast, Japanese hanging boards involve a more complex installation process and require specialized mounting accessories.
However, the primary concern is:
External cladding is mainly suitable for integrated decoration in low-rise and mid-rise buildings.
Due to cost constraints, mid-rise buildings, especially residential ones, rarely use external cladding internationally.
For safety reasons such as wind resistance, earthquake resistance, and detachment prevention, high-rise buildings generally do not use external cladding.
3. Japanese Style ALC Board
Japanese ALC prefabricated wall panels feature large formats, light relief designs, and decorative colors, making them truly prefabricated and assembled exterior wall products.
4. Market Situation
Currently, there are no suitable prefabricated exterior wall systems available for high-rise residential buildings, both domestically and internationally.
However, the domestic construction market has an urgent need for prefabricated exterior wall systems designed for mid-rise residential buildings.
5. Technical Reserves
At present, most officials, scholars, experts, entrepreneurs, and industry participants in the domestic construction sector have yet to fully acknowledge this need. Their main focus remains on developing various so-called building structural systems.
While the development of new building structural systems is essential for prefabricated buildings, excessive emphasis on structures alone neglects the importance of prefabricated architecture, particularly building enclosure systems suited for industrial manufacturing — namely, prefabricated exterior wall systems.
More than a decade ago, I advocated for the advancement of steel structure construction, emphasizing that “the structural profession should not be the only one in the spotlight.” Yet, after more than ten years, little progress has been made in this regard.
Structural professionals naturally focus on building structures, making it challenging for them to develop prefabricated and assembled exterior wall systems.
Currently, very few individuals and companies are addressing the urgent need for prefabricated and assembled exterior wall systems vital for residential industrialization.
As a result, the technical reserves for mid-rise prefabricated and assembled exterior wall systems, which are crucial for the industrialization of residential buildings in China, are nearly nonexistent.
6. Zhuoda’s Advantage
China’s construction industrialization process, which has developed over more than ten years, is advancing at an unprecedented pace and scale. Zhuoda’s green prefabricated buildings have entered a golden era of rapid and substantial growth.
Zhuoda Green Building encompasses various world-class new building structural systems, combined with the unique strengths of Zhuoda New Materials. Through continuous research and innovation, Zhuoda Group consistently launches green building products tailored to China’s national conditions and construction market demands.
Zhuoda Group is undergoing strategic transformation by pursuing three technological paths simultaneously:
Strategic Transformation Path 1 – New Building Materials;
Strategic Transformation Path 2 – New Building Structures;
Strategic Transformation Path 3 – New Construction Methods.
Starting with new building materials research and development, Zhuoda is now advancing various new building materials, structural systems, construction methods for mid-rise and high-rise residential buildings in China, as well as appropriate prefabricated exterior wall systems.
7. Technology, Market, and Brand Prospects of Prefabricated Exterior Wall Systems
The key technical features of prefabricated exterior wall systems for mid-rise residential applications should include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Prefabrication (a necessary condition for achieving residential industrialization);
- Lightweight (a sufficient condition for prefabricated modular buildings);
- Insulation (essential for energy conservation, environmental protection, and sustainability);
- Aesthetics (important for architectural appeal);
- Affordability (critical for market adoption);
- Safety (fundamental for both construction and use).
Currently, precast concrete slab systems only satisfy two of these conditions: prefabrication and insulation. They fail to meet the requirements for lightweight construction, aesthetics, affordability, and safety.
Significantly, to achieve insulation, precast concrete slabs use inorganic (high-strength fiber) connectors to bond concrete slabs on both sides of EPS insulation. Due to material instability and manufacturing quality issues, some prototype projects have encountered major safety risks, including external panel detachment.
Only the light steel keel composite panel exterior wall system (ZD insulation decorative exterior wall) meets all six technical features required for fully composite, prefabricated exterior walls in mid-rise residential applications.
10. Prefabricated and Assembled Exterior Walls Developed by Zhuoda Group
(1) Architectural Design
- Compatible with various natural stone materials, genuine bricks, cultural stones, and cultural bricks;
- Can be coated with real stone paint or water-based paint;
- Supports application of various affordable, attractive water-soluble and oil-based coatings.
(2) Structural Design
- Specialized hooks;
- Specialized lifting equipment;
- Specialized installation nodes.
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