Shanghai Green Building Materials Exhibition is held at Shanghai New International Expo Center

2025/8/11 16:04:44

      From August 20th to 22nd, the 2014 Shanghai Green Building Materials Exhibition was held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. At this exhibition, a large number of new green building materials were gathered, leading the green building trend and spreading green building knowledge. During the exhibition, reporters (Weibo) interviewed Mr. Li Jianbo, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Polyurethane Industry Association.

      Reporter: Hello, Secretary-General Li. We have many questions about polyurethane insulation materials. Could you introduce to us the benefits of using polyurethane insulation materials?

      Li Jianbo: There have always been many misunderstandings about polyurethane. People are afraid that it is toxic and worried that it is not fire-resistant. In fact, polyurethane has very good performance. First of all, polyurethane itself is non-toxic, and we use a lot of polyurethane in our daily life. For example, the insulation of your home refrigerator is made of polyurethane foam insulation material, and you will not question the toxicity of the refrigerator insulation material. Another example is nylon, which also contains polyurethane and is widely used in clothing fibers, and no one worries about the toxicity of polyurethane in clothing. We have also conducted experiments on raising fish with polyurethane materials, which proves that it is non-toxic and also shows that polyurethane has a good waterproof effect. Secondly, polyurethane has excellent fire resistance and can effectively retard flame. The amount of smoke generated during combustion is equivalent to that of wood, or even lower than that of wool. In case of a fire, its low-smoke combustion characteristic can well protect the safety of users.

       Reporter: You mentioned many benefits of polyurethane insulation materials. Then why do misunderstandings and worries about it arise?

       Li Jianbo: The application of polyurethane materials in building insulation started in 2007, which is still a short time. The public does not have a full understanding of it, and even some officials, without understanding the characteristics of polyurethane, attribute some accidents to polyurethane insulation materials. On the other hand, the use of polyurethane has indeed had an impact on some traditional materials, and some enterprises intentionally pour cold water on this rapidly developing new material. Finally, as a new material, polyurethane has different process technologies. In many cases, the use of unqualified auxiliary materials and mismatched processes will also affect the quality of the finished surface of polyurethane insulation materials. We should pay more attention to auxiliary materials to allow good materials to exert their due effects.

      Reporter: What goals does polyurethane insulation material have in the field of green buildings and residential buildings?

      Li Jianbo: Construction enterprises may take a wait-and-see attitude towards new materials. In fact, the domestic standards for polyurethane insulation materials are higher than the international general standards. For example, internationally, even several polyurethane materials use the same standard, but in China, the standards in this regard are already very detailed and strict. Therefore, we hope that polyurethane insulation materials will gain broader development in the construction field.