Many of Flexcrete’s products are specified for their environmentally friendly properties and a project at a winery in Taiwan perfectly highlights the green nature of the company’s coatings. Cementitious Coating 851 – a waterborne cementitious modified polymer coating – was chosen for green roof waterproofing at Cangjiu Winery which is set in the mountains of Toucheng, Yilan. The owners utilise natural mountain spring water to make a range of wines such as fruit wine, red wine and the region’s only fermented kumquat wine made from a traditional fruit in Yilan.
Privately owned, the winery was designed and constructed over a five-year period with sustainability at the heart of the design. The winery’s natural surroundings are incorporated into the design and the building incorporates a green roof whereby a roof garden and fish pond were created to provide an aesthetic space outside the winery’s restaurant area, whilst reducing energy consumption and providing a natural filter for rainwater.
Cementitious Coating 851 was used to waterproof the structure prior to the vegetation being planted. It was chosen on the basis of its proven ability to waterproof structures whilst providing an environmentally friendly solution due to its water-based composition with ultra-low VOC rating. 851 could be applied direct to the damp concrete substrate and it forms exceptional waterproof protection, resisting positive and negative pressure under a 100 metre hydrostatic head. The coating is also extremely durable, achieving 40MPa compressive strength which means it is tough enough to resist root penetration – clearly an important consideration for a green roof project such as this. Cementitious Coating 851 is also backed by several international accreditations, including British Board of Agrément (BBA) approval and certification to EN 1504, the pan European standard for concrete repair, so the owners were assured of the product’s performance and durability.