Revolutionary Façade Material Kaynemaile RE/8 Wins in Architectural Record’s Products of the Year

[NEW YORK] Kaynemaile, a leading designer and manufacturer of architectural mesh, is a winner in Architectural Record magazine’s Record Products of 2023 (Building Systems and Components) in recognition of its full-scale sustainability initiatives.

Winners were selected for building systems, materials, and furnishings from around the world by an independent jury of U.S.-based architects and designers.

Kaynemaile’s new RE/8 product is made from 88% bio-circular content that is ISCC PLUS certified and LEED enabled. The product is extremely lightweight at 0.6 lbs. per square foot, uses 20% of the energy needed to produce steel, and is 100% recyclable.

RE/8 debuted at the 2023 AIA conference in San Francisco in June where Kaynemaile founder Kayne Horsham stated, “We are excited to offer architects, designers, and constructors a 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 drive to reduce the embodied carbon of building construction materials, primarily at the materials production stage, is intrinsic to new city, state and federal codes including The White House Executive Order 14057 Catalyzing Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability, and California Assembly Bill 2446.

The transition from fossil to bio-circular content enables an 80% reduction in C02 associated with the manufacture of the product. This significant advance in sustainable performance is attributed to the Makrolon® RE product from Covestro, a leading global producer of advanced polymers. Makrolon® has been the consistent material solution for Kaynemaile for over a decade. 

Previous awards for Kaynemaile include 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.

Kaynemaile is a New Zealand-based company established in 2006 that designs and manufactures highly versatile architectural mesh systems for commercial, public, and residential building facades, and interiors through to public artworks, lighting effects, and stage shows.

In the U.S. Kaynemaile appears on building exteriors including large-scale parking garages, as well as interiors in Atlanta, Columbus, Dallas, Des Moines, Detroit, Los Angeles, Orlando, New York, Santa Clara, and Seattle, and internationally in Australia, Belgium, China, Dubai, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, the UK, and Vietnam. Its largest installation is for the Dubai World Expo site at 130,000 sq ft.

Kaynemaile RE/8 has been enabled by Covestro’s scientific advances to produce a high-performance polycarbonate consisting principally of bio-circular content which is 100% chemically identical to the previous fossil-based product. RE8 retains the same performance in physical, mechanical, thermal, optical, fire retardant, and weathering properties as traditional polycarbonates.

Kayne Horsham says a key benefit of Kaynemaile is what he calls the ‘WonderCool Effect.’ “With nearly a quarter of the USA’s population projected to live in extreme heat conditions, there is an urgent need for passive heat mitigation technology in new building designs. Kaynemaile delivers up to a 70% reduction in solar gain on exterior installations. It’s a product made for a hot world.”

With its origins in the Creatures, Armour, and Weapons department of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Kaynemaile has evolved into an international business based on its patented liquid-state manufacturing process coupled with compelling design aesthetics and a team focused on providing custom-made design solutions at scale.

Horsham goes on to address why the importance of RE/8? “It is renewable, recyclable, reusable – and revolutionary.”  And as the golden ring is central to the much beloved Rings films, the concept of a circular or loop economy is about keeping resources in use for as long as possible, maximizing their value, and minimizing waste. This involves designing products and systems with an end-of-life focus while regenerating natural systems.

As Galadriel says to Frodo, “even the smallest person can change the course of the future,” this ambitious manufacturer points us towards a future where we embrace a circular economy offering new ways of thinking about resource use and waste management so that the potential to significantly reduce environmental impacts can also simultaneously create economic benefits.