Ytong Panel SWE - a system for express construction of structural walls.
Lack of qualified contractors, time pressure, rising labor costs - this is the situation in the construction market today. The answer to these challenges are large-format systems, which reduce the number of workers needed and significantly accelerate the implementation of investments. The undisputed leader in the production of large wall formats is Xella Poland. At its plant in Ostroleka, it launched the production of another rapid construction system called Ytong Panel SWE in the fall of 2023. It's an innovative technology that could transform the Polish construction industry.
Ytong Panel SWE allows walls to be erected up to 4 times faster than in traditional small-size technologies
© YTONG
Efficient construction
The Polish construction market is changing very dynamically. Just a dozen years ago, the ratio of labor costs to the purchase of materials averaged 20% to 80%. Today the ratio is already half and half. The situation is approaching the EU average, where labor accounts for as much as 70% of investment costs.
Investors are increasingly opting for construction technologies that make it possible to significantly reduce labor costs, because they reduce the number of workers and man-hours needed. Xella Polska has been strongly developing its Effective Construction strategy for several years, offering, as the only manufacturer of cellular and silicate concrete in Poland, a whole range of large-format products and mini-machines for their installation. In autumn 2023, the company expanded production in Poland with two types of Ytong wall panels. Until now, Ytong Panel for partition walls and Ytong Panel SWE for structural walls were imported from Xelli's plants in Germany. On-site production at the Ostroleka plant has reduced the price of the wall panels, and increased their availability on the Polish market.
Ytong Panel SWE Ultra+ enables the erection of warm and energy-efficient single-layer walls
© YTONG
Innovative wall panels
Until now, there has been no such product as Ytong Panel SWE in Poland. These are large-size modular cellular concrete panels. Designers select the height of the elements according to the height of a given floor - so that a single element reaches from the floor to the ceiling. The height of the Ytong Panel SWE elements produced in Ostroleka ranges from 180 to 300 cm, and the width ranges from 29.9 to 59.9 cm. SWE panels are available in two types of thickness: 20 or 24 cm. Ytong Panel SWE elements are available in the P4/500 variety, which has a compressive strength of 4 N/mm2 and a density class of 500 kg/m³.
Made of cellular concrete, prefabricated Ytong Panel SWE elements are designed for the construction of internal load-bearing walls and the load-bearing layer of external two-layer walls. On the other hand, the Ytong Panel SWE Ultra+ elements, which are thicker than them and made from a lighter variety of cellular concrete, are used for the construction of external single-layer walls with very good thermal performance.
Both panels are the largest wall elements available on the market, made of cellular concrete. They allow the erection of walls in all types of single-family houses (including terraced houses), as well as lower industrial and public buildings. All Ytong Panel SWE elements are produced with high dimensional accuracy, which greatly accelerates the construction of load-bearing walls from them with even and smooth surfaces. This also facilitates the laying of interior and exterior finishing layers on them.
Built from cellular concrete, Ytong Panel SWE elements, as well as load-bearing walls made from them, are completely non-flammable - they have a reaction to fire class A1 and high fire resistance - EI 360 and REI 240.
The system is ideal for fast and efficient construction of single-family houses, terraced houses, as well as other structures, such as lower commercial buildings
© YTONG
Ytong Panel SWE Ultra+ single-layer wall
Ytong Panel SWE Ultra+ elements are designed for the construction of single-layer external walls with a heat transfer coefficient of U = 0.2 W/(m²K), which means that they thermally meet the stringent requirements of Technical Conditions 2021. The panels are 36.5 cm thick and manufactured from cellular concrete with a density class of 300 kg/m³ and compressive strength of 2.2 N/mm2. Express construction of structures with Ytong Panel SWE Ultra+ technology, combined with the absence of the need to install an additional layer of insulation, means even greater acceleration of the implementation of the investment and cost savings.
The smooth wall surface is easier and cheaper to finish
© YTONG
Instant wall construction
Despite the fact that they are made of lightweight cellular concrete, walls made of Ytong Panel SWE elements, due to their heavier weight than blocks, are erected with the help of a crane - either stand-alone or mounted on a vehicle (HDS), with which they were brought to the construction site. For the construction of walls made of Ytong Panel SWE elements, three workers are needed - two assemblers and a crane operator. During an 8-hour working day, they can erect up to 150 m² of house walls. At the same time, three masons can build at most 40 m² of walls from small-sized cellular concrete blocks. This means that a crew building walls with Ytong Panel SWE elements has almost 4 times the productivity of them!
Ytong Panel SWE elements can also be used to make gable walls of buildings with residential attics. It is important that other wall elements, offered by Xella Polska, such as prefabricated window and door lintels, fittings for making beams and floor rims, etc., fit to all walls built with these prefabricated elements.
The building structure of Ytong Panel SWE wall panels is developed by the BIM design department of Xella Polska
© YTONG
Structure design in BIM
Customers who decide to build a house with walls made with the Ytong Panel SWE system can take advantage of the help of Xella Polska's design department. For each building, it will prepare in BIM technology a detailed design of the walls made of these panels along with a plan for their installation, it also presents it in a 3D model.
Learn more about Ytong Panel SWE and Ytong Panel SWE Ultra+ technology on XELLA's website.
For more information, visit the company's {tag:Manufacturer} page on the PdA portal.
