SY, Premium Exterior Material 'Hidden Metal' Recognized as 1-Hour Fire-Resistant Structure... "40% Reduction in Fire Insurance Premiums"

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Comprehensive building materials company SY announced on the 24th that its premium exterior material 'Hidden Metal Series' has obtained 1-hour fire-resistant structure certification. The 1-hour fire-resistant structure certification refers to the performance of preventing fire from spreading for one hour during a fire.

The product that received the 1-hour fire-resistant structure certification this time, the ‘Hidden Metal Series,’ is SY's premium exterior material brand. Typical sandwich panels are used for insulation performance and exterior wall finishing by attaching insulation material between steel plates. SY's Hidden Metal is a metal (flat) panel finished on all four sides without exposing the insulation material and applies special bending technology.

The company explained that by applying the bending technology called ‘Deep-drawing’ technology, which finishes smoothly without cut edges, the appearance is more elegant and it also has advantages in waterproofing. Exterior materials are exposed to external environments for exterior walls, so waterproof performance is as important as appearance.

SY explained that it owns its own color coating line, making it possible to produce premium colors that enhance the building's exterior. This year, SY collaborated with SKC to apply premium interior film to Hidden Metal and supplied exterior walls to the SKC Cheonan CMP pad factory construction site.

According to related industries, as a follow-up measure after the Icheon logistics warehouse fire that caused large casualties this spring, the mandatory use of sandwich panels with semi-noncombustible performance or higher for all warehouses and factories was legislatively announced in August. It is scheduled to be implemented early next year, and demand for fire-resistant sandwich panels is expected to expand.

SY plans to focus not only on fire-resistant structure certification for Hidden Metal but also on developing fire safety products. In November, it participated in the fire safety building materials section of the Korea Architecture Industry Exhibition held by the Korean Institute of Architects, and plans to accelerate the launch of ‘FL Roof,’ a fire-resistant waterproof roofing material developed in accordance with the roofing fire resistance mandate, and a 2-hour fire-resistant cleanroom panel jointly developed with Samsung Engineering.

A company official emphasized, “Hidden Metal has been popular due to its elegant appearance as a premium exterior material, but with fire-resistant structure certification, it is expected that demand will increase further because it reduces annual fire insurance premiums for buildings. Applying Hidden Metal to the exterior walls of hazardous material storage facilities such as oil refineries or advanced industrial facilities such as semiconductors reduces fire insurance rates by 30-40%.”

Meanwhile, according to the regulatory impact analysis by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, if the mandatory use of semi-noncombustible sandwich panels is implemented, an increase of about 4.7 trillion won in sandwich panel construction costs is expected over 10 years.