Browsing by Author "Jutila, Kaisa"

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    Analysis of exterior facade products, markets and customer segments - U.K. and Finland
    (2010) Jutila, Kaisa; Lahti, Pia; Kemian ja materiaalitieteiden tiedekunta; Kemian tekniikan korkeakoulu; School of Chemical Engineering; Kairi, Matti
    In this study the market situation of different cladding materials was examined in Finland and in Great Britain. The target was to find out cladding market competition factors and analyse what are the market leader products key success factors. Also the target was to find out the most suitable market segment for timber cladding products and evaluate its key success factors in the market. Furthermore, the decision making process of the cladding and the decision-maker of the choice were deified in the study. The study was carried out both as a desk study and an interview study. The biggest market potential is in renovation segment and in the future the renovation still will increase because the building stock of Europe ages all the time. In Finland timber cladding is also used widely in single houses and terraced houses. The main reason for this is prefabricated houses, which have won popularity during the last few years, have increased the use of timber cladding. In U.K. considerably less timber facades are built and the traditional brick is still popular facade material there. When in the research competitors were clarified, it was noticed that the products which are well commercialised or which has long traditions in building succeed in the market of U.K. When clarifying a decision making process, it was noticed that the decision-maker is always ultimately a subscriber but that the architect has a strong influence on the choice of the facade material. The architect listens to the subscriber's wishes and likings and makes a proposal of the material to the subscriber. The subscriber usually chooses material which architect proposed. Furthermore, the building regulations and the site planning affect a choice. In the research was clarified the most important selection criteria, when choosing a facade material. The selection criteria were analysed by interviewing architects and the cladding material manufacturers. The most important selection criteria to the architects are product's visual appearance, good price-quality ratio, long service life, product's suitability to building systems and fire resistance. In the opinion of the cladding material manufacturers the most important selection criteria are the product's visual appearance, long service life, good reputation of a product, good price-quality ratio, products suitability to building systems and fire resistance. The building is always expensive acquisition and in the interviews it was noticed that the price is not an important competition factor but the good price-quality ratio means a lot. It is been ready to pay from a good product. When timber cladding is commercialised, it will be important to cooperate closely with the architects. The architects can find new applications for timber cladding and can use timber cladding in "design" locations kind of flagship buildings too. This way the consumers also notice the timber cladding as an attractive material. The ecological is not a strong competition factor yet because the constructors are not ready to pay for that.