The MF-RETROFIT project developed innovative, lightweight facade panels for retrofitting existing buildings to boost energy efficiency. Funded under the EU’s FP7 program (grant 609345), it ran from around 2013 to 2016 and focused on reducing panel thickness and weight by at least 40% while adding multifunctional features.
Project Goals
The initiative targeted Europe’s high building energy consumption (over 40% of total use) by creating cost-effective panels with superior thermal/acoustic insulation, mechanical strength, fire retardancy, and self-cleaning photocatalytic surfaces.
Nanofillers like CNTs, TiO2, and perlite enabled thinner designs (3-4 times slimmer than standard insulators, with thermal coefficients under 0.012 W/mK).
Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) optimized sustainability using recycled materials and low-energy processes.
Key Technologies
Panels featured a layered structure: an anchored polyurethane foam base with phase-change materials (PCMs) for thermal regulation; a geopolymer insulation core (density <1g/cm³, compressive strength 10MPa); and an external glass-fiber-reinforced epoxy with intumescent coating and TiO2 photocatalytic paint.
This setup cut internal temperature swings by up to 70% versus commercial panels and improved performance across simulated European climates.
Outcomes and Testing
Prototypes underwent in-situ testing in Coimbra, Portugal, with numerical models validating results under varied weather.
The panels outperformed standards in fire tests, mechanical bending/tensile strength, and aging, paving the way for market commercialization by partners like Tremco Illbruck.
