Magnelis® brings a touch of nature to your facades

Vegetal exterior walls, or “green walls,” are a great way to bring nature to the facade of buildings and give them a unique look. Green walls are designed either as aesthetic elements for interior or exterior décor - sometimes as works of art using plants or as elements of urban ecology. For instance, a green wall is one of the elements that makes the facade of the Musée du quai Branly in Paris so unique.

French company Tracer, a pioneer of vertical walls and vertical gardens in France, is a regular customer of ArcelorMittal Downstream Solutions’ agency in Chalon-sur-Saône. For their creations, Tracer orders ArcelorMittal construction products such as rolled steel sheets or aluminium, and especially Magnelis®, a flagship product of ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products.

Magnelis®

Magnelis® is an ideal product for building the metal frame of green walls:

•    Its properties and particularly its high resistance to corrosion makes it perfect for environments with permanent humidity (the presence of plants implying biological and microbial activity and micro-organisms)
•    It meets the standards requested by Tracer, which contributes to their CSTB* approval

*CSTB: Centre Scientifique et Technique du Bâtiment (Scientific and Technical Center for Building)

Downstream Solutions delivers the Magnelis® steel sheets to Tracer, who then cut them to the right dimensions for their customers’ projects. Tracer also takes care of installing the sprinkling systems and the plants, selected with the project manager to meet the desired aesthetics thanks to a database of more than 300 plants.

About Tracer

Created in 1989, Tracer is a pioneer of vertical walls and vertical gardens in France. The company has a strong know-how in vegetal solutions with more than 17 000 m² of vegetal walls and facades created with their patented products (VertiFlore®, VertiBruit®). The company has a factory located in Dijon where all materials are manufactured.

They have realised green walls for many businesses such as shopping centres, office buildings, residential buildings, schools, supermarkets, and hotels.

Text: ArcelorMittal Europe
Photos: Tracer – système VertiFlore® / Irina Kzan / Shutterstock.com

ArcelorMittal Méditerranée recently inaugurated a photovoltaic farm on its site of Fos-sur-Mer, realised in partnership with EDF Energies Nouvelles. This solar farm of 15 hectares has a capacity of 12 MWc, equal to the annual electricity consumption of 7,400 citizens, half of the town of Fos-sur-Mer. Profil du Futur, a division of ArcelorMittal Construction, was in charge of the structure’s construction and used Magnelis®,a lead product of ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products for solar projects.

45,000 solar panels installed in 10 months

La Fossette solar farm is composed of 45,000 solar panels and its full construction required 10 months of work and up to 40 people. The solar panels structure was designed and produced by Profil du Futur in Horbourg-Wihr (near to Colmar, in France) and with steel produced by ArcelorMittal Bremen and coated with Magnelis®.

Based on DMSE’s specifications (the consulting firm mandated by EDF Energies Nouvelles), Profil du Futur proposed a structure designed in accordance with the Eurocodes standards that could meet all the needs (soil condition (determined by the G2AVP study), climatic loads, handling in the ground, modules fixing method, etc.).

The poles are the first steps in the installation of a solar structure. For La Fossette project, micropiles were the selected method, due to the nature of the ground (rocky with large blocks). This solution involves drilling the soil to a certain depth and to a certain diameter to install the pole and pour concrete into the hole around the pole. Before installing the micropiles, pulling tests are made to check how the poles will hold in the ground.

The photovoltaic modules of La Fossette were manufactured by the company TRINA and to realise the mounting parts which hold the modules on the structure, Profil du Futur partnered with Araymond who designed and manufactured the clamps.

Magnelis®, the reference material for solar projects

The structure of La Fossette solar farm was entirely made with Magnelis®, an ideal material for solar applications. Its remarkable corrosion resistance comes from its unique composition; developed by ArcelorMittal Europe – Flat Products, the coating includes zinc, 3.5% aluminium, and 3% magnesium. Magnelis® has a self-healing effect on cut edges and scratches which ensures excellent edge protection, even in the most hostile environments. When exposed to the environment, Magnelis® forms a very dense, zinc-based protective film. This film also forms on edges, welds, perforations, and scratches. It is almost impossible for the environment to penetrate this film.

La Fossette is the first project that EDF Energies Nouvelles realises with Magnelis®. Since 2012, Profil du Futur has made continuous efforts to make Magnelis® known as a suitable product for solar applications. This prescription as well as the 25-year guarantee were key factors which convinced EDF Energies Nouvelles to work with us.

Magnelis® wasn’t the only ArcelorMittal product used for this project. ArcelorMittal Fos-sur-Mer provided slag to consolidate the paths on the solar farm. Steel-making slag is a by-product of the steel production and often used in civil engineering to consolidate embankments.

A fruitful collaboration for Fos-sur-Mer

The completion of this project is part of the EDF Group's CAP 2030 strategy, which aims to double its renewable capacity by 2030. For ArcelorMittal Méditerranée, the aim is to facilitate the production of renewable energy by making parts of its industrial lands available. The last 5 years, the company invested €60 million for sustainability and remains attentive to the residents’ remarks.

Text: ArcelorMittal Europe - Flat Products

Copyrights: ArcelorMittal Europe Communication