Kaynemaile Announces Major Sustainability Move – Up to 88% Gain

(PRESS RELEASE) SAN FRANCISCO — Kaynemaile, a leading global designer and manufacturer of architectural mesh for commercial, residential, and public buildings, announces a major shift from fossil-based raw materials to biomass content.

Kaynemaile’s new RE8 Architectural Mesh (R.E/8) will deliver an ISCC PLUS certified sustainable share of up to 88% of its architectural product. Moving Kaynemaile’s production away from traditional fossil-based materials to a bio-circular attributed polycarbonate will offer a reduction of the carbon footprint of the polymer material by up to 80%, cradle-to-gate, including biogenic uptake.

AIA Debut
RE8 Architectural Mesh is debuting at the American Institute of Architects (AIA) conference in San Francisco this week. Kaynemaile founder Kayne Horsham says, “We are excited to now offer architects, designers and constructors an architectural mesh product made from a single sustainable circular material that is not only beautiful and functional, but also has the best possible environmental credentials in its sector.”

The significant advance in sustainable performance is attributed to the Makrolon RE product from Covestro, a leading global producer of advanced polymers. Makrolon has been a consistent material solution for Kaynemaile for 20 years. Scientific advances by Covestro and its suppliers have enabled the release of a high-performance polycarbonate consisting principally of bio waste and residues which is 100% chemically identical to its incumbent fossil equivalent. RE8 retains the same performance concerning physical, mechanical, thermal, optical, fire retardant, and weathering properties as traditional polycarbonates.

Working with this bio-circular attributed polycarbonate material means Kaynemaile’s RE8 product lines now offer architectural specifiers a compelling reduction in CO2 emissions for this class of product. The net result is a circular economy building material with a true drop-in solution with no process interruption or performance change.

Circular Economy Milestone
“RE8 is a major milestone in Kaynemaile’s 20-year commitment to circular economy practices,” says Kayne Horsham. “From the start we have sought a high-performance sustainable feed-stock material solution that exceeds building compliance standards yet has a light environmental footprint. Covestro’ s bio-circular attributed polycarbonate portfolio is now able to deliver on this ambition.”

“Makrolon RE polycarbonate from Covestro offers designers a sustainable material solution, while still maintaining the key benefits of traditional polycarbonate,” says Joel Matsco, Senior Marketing Manager, Covestro. “The polycarbonate material enables an unencumbered design experience and provides a second life to upstream waste and residues. We look forward to seeing RE8 from Kaynemaile on buildings and in spaces around the world.”

With Kaynemaile’s origins in the Armory department of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy some 20 years ago, the company has evolved into an international business built on its innovative nil-waste liquid-state manufacturing process coupled with a compelling design aesthetic and a team focused on providing bespoke functional design solutions at scale. Kaynemaile’s manufacturing facility is ISCC Plus certified and the introduction of its RE8 bio-circular material helps position architects, planners, and builders to meet regulated carbon reduction targets.

“RE8 is the most significant initiative by the company since its founding,” says Kayne Horsham. “We are proud to be at the forefront of this future proofing circular economy technology.”

Background

Why RE8?
‘RE’ connects with “renewable, recyclable, and recoverable. It also stands for revolutionary,” says Horsham. “Whereas the numeral 8 visually references our continuous joined loops which have been the essence of chainmail armor since the 3rd century BC, 8 is also represents the infinity symbol which has a deeper meaning to Kaynemaile. It reminds us that the ultimate measure of long-term sustainability is achieving a closed-loop circular-enabled economy, which this material does.”

Certified mass balance method for Makrolon RE and Kaynemaile RE8
At a raw material level, a mass-balancing approach enables portioned replacement of traditional virgin fossil feedstocks with alternative raw materials from renewable or end-of-life sources by tracking and allocating them to selected products. At the end of RE8 useful life it can be fully recycled or fed back as a circular feedstock for Covestro.

Mass balancing is a transparent and ISCC PLUS auditable approach to measuring and monitoring materials throughout an industrial production process, which prevails in the chemical industry. This process allows detailed tracking of these certified raw materials through to any final product, ensuring its sustainable value through every step of the value chain is preserved. Covestro and its suppliers apply a mass balance method to producing the Makrolon RE polymer which is also ISCC PLUS certified by International Sustainability & Carbon Certification and is certified in key regions globally.

Kaynemaile Limited is an ISCC PLUS certified processor which enables Kaynemaile to produce ISCC PLUS Carbon Certification against its resulting RE8 products.

About Kaynemaile

Kaynemaile is a New Zealand-based company established in 2006 that designs and manufactures architectural mesh. Kaynemaile’s architectural mesh is a patented, world-leading innovation specified by architects and designers for exteriors, facades, interiors, and lighting throughout the US and the world. Kaynemaile architectural mesh also offers building scientists a passive solar reduction of up to 80% due to its three-dimensional shading properties.

Kaynemaile appears on building exteriors as well as interiors in several U.S. cities including Atlanta, Columbus, Dallas, Des Moines, Detroit, Galveston, Los Angeles, New York, Santa Clara, and Seattle. Internationally Kaynemaile has provided design solutions in Australia, Belgium, China, Dubai, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, the UK, and Vietnam. Kaynemaile mesh is also utilized as a design material for civic artworks and large-scale theatrical productions.

Kaynemaile has been awarded the IF Material Award, NYCxDesign Award for Best New Architectural Product, Architecture MasterPrize for Building Envelope and Construction Materials, and Civil+Structural Engineer Yearbook of Engineering Achievement 2021 and 2022 for Environmental and Sustainability.

About Covestro LLC

Covestro LLC is part of the global Covestro business, which is among the world’s leading manufacturers of high-quality polymer materials and their components. With its innovative products, processes and methods, the company helps enhance sustainability and the quality of life in many areas. The company is committed to becoming fully circular and aims to become climate neutral by 2035 (scope 1 and 2). Find more information at www.covestro.us.

About ISCC

International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) is a certification system that offers solutions for the implementation and certification of sustainable, deforestation-free and traceable supply chains of agricultural, forestry, waste and residue raw materials, non-bio renewables and recycled carbon materials and fuels. Independent third-party certification ensures compliance with high ecological and social sustainability requirements, greenhouse gas emissions savings (on a voluntary basis under ISCC PLUS) and traceability throughout the supply chain. ISCC can be applied globally in all markets including the food, feed, chemical, energy and construction markets and for industrial applications of the respective raw materials.


Makrolon is a registered trademark of the Covestro Group.
Kaynemaile is a registered trademark of Kaynemaile Ltd Corporation.
LEED—an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design is a registered trademark of USGBC.