Technoform Bautec collaborated with its long-time customer, YKK AP America Inc. to co-develop a new polyamide pressure plate system that significantly increases thermal performance compared with most traditional aluminum systems. The recently introduced non-aluminum pressure plate is offered for 2- or 2.5-inch-wide systems.
“YKK AP needed a non-aluminum pressure plate solution that would increase the thermal performance of its pressure-glazed systems. Together, we developed a solution that yields performance increases of up to a 20 percent gain in U-Factor and a 10 percent gain in condensation resistance,” said Chad Ricker, Technoform Bautec market team manager. “This new polyamide pressure plate offers similar improvements for all aluminum-framed curtain wall systems, including YKK AP’s YCW 750 XTP system.”
"While most of the time our aluminum pressure plate meets customers’ expectations, there are times that the need for greater thermal performance can only be achieved with a non-metal solution. Working with Technoform, we were able to devise a solution that gave us both the structural and the thermal performance needed,” said Don Pangburn, curtain wall engineer for YKK AP.