Dow will release the world’s first commercially available, project-specific, carbon-neutral silicones service for building façade and automotive applications.
With more than 50 years’ experience in structural silicone glazing, the materials science company is the first to offer high-performance bonding silicones with externally verified carbon neutrality and a global service offered on a project-by-project basis.
Following procedures required by the internationally recognized PAS 2060 verified carbon neutrality standard, Dow’s carbon-neutral service for DOWSIL™ Brand Silicone Sealants offer key sustainability advantages for structural glazing, insulating glass and weathersealing systems. This includes an audited commitment to continuously reduce the level of embodied carbon.
Carbon-neutral silicones service for bonding and structural glazing can help reduce the environmental impact of buildings, achieve better green-building certification ratings and help limit the creation of greenhouse gases that contribute to earth’s climate changes.
Benefits can include reduced aluminium usage and a potential embodied carbon reduction of up to 600 tons of CO2 on a 30,000m² façade.
The journey toward carbon-neutral silicones starts with Dow’s investment in decarbonising its back-integrated production process for silicone feedstocks.
Low-carbon silicon metal is produced with clean, renewable energy and responsibly sourced, audited raw materials. The remaining embodied carbon is realised as insets (sequestered) to achieve carbon neutrality. (See graph below.)
Architects and building designers can request the Dow carbon neutrality service on specific projects globally that involve DOWSIL™ Brand Silicone Sealants for façades.
Dow sealants have also been selected for the Jaguar TCS Racing cars for the current 2022 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
Over the past year, Dow’s MobilityScience™ engineers have collaborated closely with the Jaguar TCS Racing team to identify challenges that its materials science may solve. For example, adhesion performance issues.
Key components in the powertrain required protection from the race car’s chemically hostile environment. Dow’s MobilityScience™ engineers were able to help the team leverage a spray-on adhesion promoter and primer to ensure more effective assembly and component durability.
Jaguar TCS Racing Team Principal James Barclay said the company’s partnership with Dow was crucial for improvement and innovation, commenting that every small “ingredient” was vital to the overall performance of the car and its impact on the environment.
Dow believed that the collaborative nature of the partnership had led to its success, and said it was “extremely proud” of the speed at which the company had been able to implement solutions for Jaguar TCS Racing.
Please visit dow.com/carbonneutralsilicones for more information.
