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Case study· Construction

Wanhua Yantai Zero-Carbon Community: GFRP-PU Passive Windows

13,657 m² of GFRP-PU windows for Wanhua Chemical's zero-carbon employee community in Yantai, at a whole-window U-value of 0.99 W/m²·K against a 1.0 requirement.

FIG. 1 Zero-carbon community
Wanhua Yantai zero-carbon community seen from above
Location
Yantai, Shandong, China
Year
2022
Industry
Construction

Last updated

The challenge

Wanhua Chemical, the world's largest producer of MDI and a supplier of polyurethane raw materials, decided in 2021 to build a zero-carbon employee community on its campus in the Yantai Economic and Technological Development Zone, Shandong. The complex has 112,815 m² of above-ground floor area in mid- and high-rise dormitories and supporting buildings. It had to meet two energy standards at once: China's national near-zero energy building standard and Shandong's passive ultra-low energy residential standard. That meant a cap of 50 kWh per square metre per year for heating, cooling and lighting, an envelope well inside the national code, and blower-door testing of airtightness. The windows were the hardest part. The specification asked for whole-window U-values below 1.0 W/m²·K, which thermally broken aluminum rarely reaches without special glazing, and PVC frames could not span the tall openings on the stair towers. Wanhua also wanted the frames to be made with its own polyurethane resin.

What F1 supplied

F1 supplied pultruded GFRP-PU window profiles from FengDu's Yancheng plant for the 13,657 m² dormitory part of the project. The smaller dormitory windows used 65-series inward-opening casement and tilt-and-turn profiles, the balconies used 90-series sliding profiles, and matching facade-frame sections were used at the stair-tower curtain wall. With a triple-glazed unit (5 mm single-silver Low-E + 16 mm argon + 5 mm single-silver Low-E + 16 mm argon + 5 mm Low-E), the whole-window U-value was 0.99 W/m²·K against the 1.0 W/m²·K requirement. The frame has no metal thermal break: the GFRP-PU section conducts heat at about 0.3 W/m·K, around 500 times less than aluminum. The profiles were pultruded with Wanhua polyurethane resin, from the same supplier as the building's polyurethane sandwich wall insulation. They were finished in a dark frame color with co-extruded EPDM gasket channels and reinforced corners, and delivered on pallets in installation order during eight months of overlapping site work.

FIG. 2 Dormitory building
Wanhua Yantai Zero-Carbon Community: a passive-house dormitory building with continuous pultruded GFRP-PU window frames and a high-glazing facade
FIG. 3 CourtyardPhoto
Ground-level courtyard at the Wanhua Yantai Zero-Carbon Community — residents and staff in the landscaped quad between dormitory buildings, with floor-to-ceiling pultruded GFRP-PU windows above

Results

The dormitory envelope was completed with F1's GFRP-PU windows as the main opening component. Figures from the building-envelope verification at handover: a comprehensive building energy-saving rate of 61.11 % against the national baseline (the near-zero energy threshold in the standard is 60 %), an envelope-only energy-saving rate of 47.56 %, a renewable-energy share of 51.81 %, and airtightness of N50 = 1.0 air changes per hour at 50 Pa. With the wall insulation, ground-source heat pumps, rooftop PV and solar hot water, the development is projected to cut CO₂ emissions by more than 2,000 tonnes a year across its 112,815 m². Wanhua Chemical's 2022 sustainability reporting lists it as the company's first zero-carbon community. For F1 it is the main reference for near-zero energy and passive residential projects: 13,657 m² of GFRP-PU windows at a whole-window U-value of 0.99 W/m²·K.

Total project area
112,815 m²
F1 window envelope
13,657 m²
Whole-window U-value
0.99 W/m²K
Energy-saving rate
61.11 %
Measured airtightness
N50 = 1.0
Projected CO₂ reduction
2,000+ t/yr

Certificates and downloads

  • CertificatePDF · 115 KB

    3-Star Green Building Material Cert

    Issued by
    CABR
    For
    FRP windows and doors

    CABR-01(02)-(2025)-CGP-035 — 3-Star Green Building Material rating for the 65/70/80/90-series pultruded GFRP-PU window family used on this project.

  • CertificatePDF · 142 KB

    EPD & Carbon Footprint Analysis

    Issued by
    CABR
    For
    Standard profiles

    Environmental Product Declaration and life-cycle carbon-footprint analysis for the pultruded GFRP composite profile range — cradle-to-grave 36.1 kg CO₂e/m².

  • CatalogPDF · 2026 edition

    FRP Window & Door Catalog

    Issued by
    F1 Composite
    For
    FRP windows and doors

    Full 65/70/80/90/140-series fenestration catalog with profile specifications, glazing builds, and U-value matrix.

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