Agriculture is today one of the most developing sectors of the Polish economy. Funds from the European Union, expanding farms, subsidies for farmers, growing demand for crops and meat are causing farmers to invest more and more and to develop their farms, building storage facilities for fruit and vegetables and cereals, pigsties, cowsheds, poultry sheds and farm buildings.

As in other industries, the focus is on speed of construction, parameters that reduce maintenance costs and, increasingly, aesthetics. This is why more and more constructions are made of sandwich panels. The advantage of sandwich panel halls, also called oborniki panel, is that the panel assembly method is similar to the roof assembly method, which is not a secret knowledge for Polish villagers.

The most common solutions concern the choice between a standard sarking board and an Agro board. What is the difference between the two?

Oborniki panels, or sandwich panels, consist of a core, usually polyurethane or polyisocyanurate (PIR), clad on both sides with steel sheeting. An important consideration for those planning the construction of outbuildings is that the sheet metal on the inside of the building should be protected from the effects of an aggressive environment with a high content of moisture, urine and ammonia, fertilisers. It is therefore important to use coatings with Aluzinc content or a thicker coating (min. 25 microns), and preferably with a special coating such as GranitFarm, which meets corrosion resistance class C3 or higher. This will ensure the aesthetics of the cladding board inside the outbuilding for many years to come.

Agro slabs are constructed in a similar way to standard slabs except that the sheet metal inside the slab is replaced by a material commonly referred to as fibreglass. This means 'fibreglass' in English and is nothing more than a composite panel made of fibreglass infused with polyester resin. The advantage is that the composite is resistant to the aggressive environment inside the farm building, to osmosis and therefore to water penetration, as well as being flexible and strong at the same time. As a result, it does not lose its properties in contact with animals and the substances they emit, it can be washed under pressure with chemicals and it does not rust. An important advantage of the Agro-type boards offered by Izopanel Sp. z o.o. is the use of a thicker board than competing products. Instead of using 0.5mm slab as standard, Izopanel also offers slabs 50-100% thicker, providing the Agro slab with additional stiffness and strength. The material used in the AgroRoof range can have a high glass content and so can be less brittle and more resistant to water penetration than a standard composite.

When deciding on sandwich panels for an outbuilding, whether they are Obornickie or Agro panels, it is very important to get a few additional parameters right, such as:

1. Fire resistance

This parameter is all the more important as, if we are going to store machinery, equipment or livestock inside an outbuilding, we need to allow a certain amount of time to remove the valuable belongings from the hall. Products based on polystyrene or PUR (polyurethane) boards have at most a NRO class - meaning no fire spread. Unfortunately, in the event of a fire during which we want to empty our commercial building, the EI fire resistance (e.g. EI15 - 15 minutes) and reaction to fire classes are required. Only boards with a PIR core or MWF mineral wool core will provide such parameters.

2. Required thermal insulation

The parameter of an outbuilding depends on what it is used for. If we are storing tools, machines, vehicles in a steel panel building - it is sufficient to use a material with low insulation. On the other hand, when the steel panel building is used for breeding animals sensitive to temperature fluctuations (e.g. it is an outbuilding for breeding chicks), it is necessary to use a board with higher insulation. Typical parameters are shown in the table:

3. Distances between supports

A parameter of which those constructing or retrofitting outbuildings with cladding board are often aware too late. The standard for the selection of a slab is the information about the distance between supports. Obornicki slabs, due to their construction and technology, are used with supports every 3 to 6m. In the case of the Agro slab, depending on its thickness, supports are used every 1-2m due to the possibility of loading the inner layer. Looking at the cost of the entire steel hall investment, this can be crucial.

Finally, one more important piece of information. Remember that rodents and pests do not particularly like products based on polyurethane (PUR/PIR), while they are very keen to inhabit insulation based on polystyrene and mineral wool. Therefore, this should also be taken into account when choosing the right product.