Exel Composites showcases smart, sustainable construction solutions at JEC World 2018

EXEL COMPOSITES PLC           PRESS RELEASE            15 FEBRUARY 2018 at 12:00 EET

Global pultruder Exel Composites will highlight composite innovations designed to enable the next generation of smart, sustainable construction solutions at JEC World 2018 in Paris on 6-8 March.

Smart city infrastructure

On Stand Q13 in Hall 5, Exel will showcase composite laminates aimed at next generation, 5G-enabled city infrastructure. These laminates play a key role in the LuxTurrim5G project on Smart City Digital Ecosystem Creation, where Exel is collaborating with partners including Nokia Bell Labs to develop smart lighting poles designed to create a telecommunications network fit for the world's rapidly growing urban environments.

Future cities will need to be smarter, and fast, high capacity networks will be essential to meet ever growing needs for data transmission. The forthcoming 5G mobile networks are the proposed answer, but these higher frequency 5G signals will not travel as far as current signals and a dense network of antennas will be needed to boost the 5G signal locally. Integrating these thousands of antennas unobtrusively into city infrastructure will be a major challenge. The LuxTurrim5G initiative aims to develop enablers for the future smart city, making big data capacity available for residents and businesses through a network of smart light poles. As well as providing energy-efficient lighting and other services, the composite poles will incorporate integrated miniaturised 5G base stations to create a high-capacity 5G data transmission network. A pilot project is currently underway in the Finnish city of Espoo.

Exel designed the pole structure and composite laminates key to bringing this concept to reality. The composite pole functions as mast, architectural casing, weather protection and radome for the 5G antenna. The pole tubes are manufactured from glass fibre reinforced polyurethane resin using the pultrusion process. The laminate structure is designed to minimise the attentuation of the 5G millimetre-length radio waves as they travel through the pole wall. The lightweight composite pole also offers easy assembly and a longer life compared with steel and wood alternatives.

The LuxTurrim5G project has been shortlisted for a JEC World 2018 Innovation Award in the Smart Cities category.

“Telecommunications and infrastructure are key markets for Exel Composites and with LuxTurrim5G we have the unique opportunity to unite our proven expertise in these sectors to create a new solution for the future urban environment," explains Kari Loukola, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Exel Composites. "We are very proud of the success this project has already achieved and are looking forward to working with our partners to realise the immense potential of this new application for composites.”

Sustainable buildings

On Tuesday 6 March at 10.25 am, Mikko Lassila, Exel Composites Group Development Sales Manager, will team up with Justin Jin, CEO of Axia Materials, to deliver the presentation Organosheet Together with Pultruded Profiles for Future Sustainable Building Systems. Part of the JEC World conference on Building and Infrastructure, the presentation will discuss the development of a fast, easy building construction technique based on composite Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) and high strength profiles. This system results in a low carbon footprint and high energy insulation.

Throughout JEC World, Exel Composites pultrusion experts will be available to discuss these innovative building and construction applications, as well the company's extensive range of optimised solutions for the wind energy, transportation and telecommunications markets.

Exel Composites in brief
Exel Composites (www.exelcomposites.com) is a leading composite technology company that designs, manufactures and markets composite products and solutions for demanding applications. Exel Composites provides superior customer experience through continuous innovation, world-class operations and long-term partnerships.

The core of the operations is based on own, internally developed composite technology, product range based on it and strong market position in selected segments with a strong quality and brand image. Profitable growth is pursued by a relentless search for new applications and development in co-operation with customers. The employee’s expertise and high level of technology play a major role in Exel Composites’ operations. Exel Composites Plc share is listed in Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd