PVC resources for students of building industries
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), also known as Vinyl, is a very durable and long lasting material which can be used in a variety of applications, either rigid or flexible, white or black and a wide range of colours in between.
It is the most widely used plastic in building and construction applications with over 50% of all PVC manufactured being used in this sector.
Documents for download and links to further pages appear below.
See also the new news, events and features page listing all the latest articles and activities posted on this site about PVC.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Vinyl in construction.pdf | 1.21 MB |
| Altro Sustainability - Customer Presentation Mar 2012.pdf | 1.15 MB |
| March 2012 - History of Altro.pdf | 1.25 MB |
| Altro Manufacturing tour guide.pdf | 1.09 MB |
What is PVC?
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) is a thermoplastic polymer and the third most widely produced plastic globally.
Main attributes of PVC:
- Durable, strong, lightweight
- Low maintanence required
- One of the most widely recycled plastics
- High performance at low cost
- Helps conserve energy and natural resources
- Safe and inert to use (plays a major role in saving people’s lives)
- Doesn’t support combustion (inherently fire resistant)
57% of the molecular weight of PVC is derived from salt. Common salt is one of the most abundant materials on Earth with over 50 quadrillion tonnes of salt dissolved in the sea and over 200 billion tonnes of salt available underground. Reserves of this material are clearly abundant. The remaining 43% is derived from hydrocarbon feedstocks.
PVC production is less dependent than other polymers on crude oil or natural gas, which are non-renewable, and hence can be regarded as a natural resource saving plastic (ethylene from oil equates to 0.3% of annual oil usage, but increasingly etheylene from sugar crops is also being used for PVC production).
Due to its very nature, PVC is widely used in many industries and provides very many popular and necessary products.
Major applications in the built environment include:
- window frames
- drainage pipes
- water service pipes
- resilient floorings
- roofing membranes
Applications outside of the built environment include:
- medical devices
- blood storage bags
- cable and wire insulation
- stationery
- automotive interiors and seat coverings
- fashion and footwear
- packaging
- cling film
- credit cards
- synthetic leather and other coated fabrics
Global demand for PVC exceeds 35 million tonnes per annum and is in constant growth.
Read on...
PVC for building and construction
Free Webcasts On "Achieve Green" Vinyl Product Matrix
Webcasts are held periodically for the "Achieve Green" matrix, an innovative tool that helps architects and designers evaluate and discover the benefits of vinyl products in reaching their sustainability goals.
The comprehensive checklists found at www.achievegreen.net demonstrate how vinyl products fit into systems that are designed and specified to meet green building criteria in the Green Building Initiative ANS 01-2008P: Green Building Assessment Protocol for Commercial Buildings and LEED*-NC v3. Product manufacturers are listed in alphabetical order within the checklist by types of vinyl products.
As webcasts are scheduled they are listed on this site as an event. If there are any webcasts coming up they will appear as an event on the PVC news and events page.
For further details about these valuable webcasts, please contact Amanda Coomes at gmoraes@vinylinfo.org or 571-970-3359. Participants should provide their name, company affiliation, telephone number, and email address.
The Vinyl Institute represents the leading manufacturers involved in the production of PVC vinyl in the United States, and promotes the value of PVC and vinyl products to society. For further details please contact:
Vinyl News Service
The Vinyl Institute
1737 King Street Suite 390
Alexandria, VA 22314
Main: 571.970.3400
Fax: 571.970.3271
Email: vinylnewsservice@vinylinfo.org
http://www.vinylinfo.org
http://www.vinylindesign.com