KARMA®: THE ARMORED COAT

Karma®, the reinforced insulation coat by Ecosism srl, is the first custom-made prefabricated thermal insulation coat, which allows, with a single process, to obtain both the thermal insulation of the building envelope and to avoid overturning due to the seismic actions of infill buildings frame both towards the outside and inside of the building.

Karma® is produced to measure, following a geometric survey of the facades, and faithfully reflects the dimensions and openings of the building undergoing intervention. The Ecosism® modules differ from the panels of a simple thermal coat in that they don’t need to be shaped on site before their installation on the facade, but arrive on site already perfectly customized according to the geometry of the building: transferring most of the manuals processes from the construction site to the production establishment, rapid installation is achieved, reducing waste and scrap, while also having absolute certainty of the timing and the final result.

The reinforced insulation coat can be customized in terms of thickness and type of insulation depending on the performance objectives you want to achieve: it is in fact possible to adopt a combined stratigraphy by pairing different materials in the range of products or it can be varied along the height of the panel to satisfy thermal needs, acoustic, water and fire resistant.

The insulating materials are inserted inside a galvanized steel metal cage with a height equal to that of the building's inter-storey height: the module arrives on the construction site already assembled, and must be positioned following the installation diagram provided by the Ecosism technical office.

The single panel is mechanically fixed to the horizontal load-bearing structures in reinforced concrete of the building using steel angular profiles, pre-inserted in the metal cage, and to mechanical anchors with C2 seismic certification: thanks to this constraint, a "bag-like" behavior is obtained of the metal cage which allows to contain the out-of-plane tipping of the infills. A kit is prepared in correspondence with the holes, consisting of two vertical profiles placed on the sides of the opening and a horizontal crosspiece lower than the hole to compensate for the loss of resistance of the infill wall caused by the presence of the openings.

Furthermore, in the presence of cassette infills, it is possible to insert an additional kit inside the modules consisting of angular profiles and double expansion mechanical fixings, to be able to connect both facings of the perimeter wall to the Karma metal cage, thus avoiding both outward and inward overturn.

The sizing of the Karma® anti-overturn system is carried out according to the geometric characteristics of the building, the stratigraphy present on the facade and the seismic area: the system can ensure local seismic improvement up to an EXC3 execution class.

The reinforced coat is also equipped with a pre-welded plaster-holder mesh on each individual module which allows the creation of a more solid and resistant finish compared to those carried out on standard thermal coats finished with a few millimeters of smoothing compound: a 2 cm layer of plaster is applied on Karma® and thanks to the presence of the integrated mesh it guarantees protection over time of the finish and the insulating material from atmospheric events and accidental impacts. Karma® can also be covered with stone materials, facing bricks, ceramics and ventilated walls, depending on architectural needs.

Karma® is an optimal and patented solution for the seismic safety of the infills of a building framed in reinforced concrete and to energetically requalify its opaque vertical surfaces in a single intervention. It can therefore be classified as a seismic improvement intervention and can lead to an increase in the seismic safety of a building, obviously where there are no other structural fragilities that are activated before the facade infill crisis.

The Ecosism® reinforced coat uses individual certified components and is sized in compliance with the dictates of NTC18. By acting only on the infills, it increases their robustness without altering the overall behavior of the building. It is therefore possible to use it both as a system for securing walls damaged by the earthquake and as a preventive intervention to prevent overturning or expulsion of infills, while at the same time ensuring the energy efficiency of the building.