GigaCrete welcomes Derek Perlman as VP of Marketing and Business Development.  Derek will assist in analyzing the ICF markets for GigaCrete products, develop business relationships within the industry and help source recognized Architectural firms specializing in ICF/SIP’s building designs and materials specifications.  His main focus will be on institutional, medical, hospitality and military ICF applications.

GigaCrete has had a product under development for a long time called BallistiCrete, a Company registered trademark.  Ballistic resistant plaster or stucco is an unusual product to find but was actually one of the very first products to be developed by GigaCrete as a Hurricane resistant stucco when the Company was first founded.  Now the newer version is capable of stopping multiple shots of 9mm, .40 caliber, .357 magnum and rifle bullets up to AK-47 7.62 rounds at near point blank range.  BallistiCrete is mixed and applied on site like any normal plaster or stucco but is ceramic hard and capable of stopping deadly fire from most weaponry available in the marketplace.  The Military have showed great interest and demonstrations are planned in Virginia to show ease of installation and extreme performance characteristics.  Their interest includes protective coatings for our troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

On April 26th, GigaCrete completed a revolutionary fire test at Interteks testing facility in Coquitlam Vancouver in Canada.  PlasterMax had previously passed NFPA 286, a test proving equivalency and replacing gypsum board over ICF construction.  This test was for Plastermax Base Coat, 3/8″ thick, replacing 1/2″ and 5/8″ drywall, the only other means of fire rating ICF construction.  Now Plastermax-ICF Thin Coat has exceeded the performance of our previous coating but blown gypsum board out of the game at 1/8″ thick!  One fourth the thickness with higher performance in flame smoke and abrasion resistance.  The smoke registered in the test was 20, the allowable amount is 2000.  All who witnessed the event were amazed that 1/8″ could stop 1500 degrees F from igniting the EPS foam.  This is certainly a new Worlds first and very cost effective against drywall.  When the news was released, GigaCrete picked up immediate business from cost conscious clients waiting to see if we could pass the test.  “We expect to see commitments for a few hundred thousand square feet in the first month” says Andrew Dennis GigaCrete’s founder.

Exterior Insulated Finishing Systems (EIFS) have not changed a great deal for some time and have some inherent weaknesses, mostly from impact.  GigaCrete PlasterMax is well known for its high strength, indent and impact resistance and a natural for the EIFS industry.  Typical EIFS coatings are thinner than regular stucco and consist of layers of acrylic polymer coats over a mesh.  The mesh does several things including adding tear strength to the finish and evening out the application thickness, desirable during the installation of the coatings.  Most EIFS finishes consist of a base coat applied over the substrate, then the mesh embedded followed by another base coat and then one or more finish coats containing the final textures and color.  GigaCrete is developing a super strong base coat with higher indent and impact resistance than competitors currently have in the marketplace that can then be coated with a final color/texture coat available from other EIFS coatings companies.   ASTM compressive strengths show in excess of 8,000 psi and thickness changes are made by utilizing different sized notched trowels in a one coat, two pass application.  The goal is to take a relatively damage prone EIFS coating and make it as tough as possible, keeping it Green in the GigaCrete style and improve the performance levels in the EIFS industry.  The new base coat may be offered to other EIFS coatings manufacturers under license.  This thin coat concept is also scheduled for fire testing over ICF interiors replacing gypsum board and getting the costs down below our current 3/8″ (9mm) one coat PlasterMax-ICF Base Coat, currently slightly higher than drywall costs installed.  If we can hit the same price as drywall installed, we will have the ICF market in our pocket says Andrew Dennis the founder of GigaCrete.  Gypsum board over ICF has been a problem for a lot of projects, some of which build with CMU blocks just to avoid using gypsum board.  Cost is always an issue so getting the installed coatings lowered is a major effort for the Company whilst maintaining our Green position and fire ratings.  Intertek will soon be testing the new thin coat applications.

Almost everyone that walks into the new 2009 state of the art NextGen Home Experience in Las Vegas says “Wow, what’s that finish on the walls” and they go up to it and touch it. The new material is called PlasterMax-IND™ by GigaCrete Inc., a leader in “green” building materials technologies.

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For Immediate Release

GigaCrete, Inc. Retains Intertek, a Leading International Testing Firm
Intertek to Handle Product Testing and Code Approvals

GigaCrete, Inc. officially retained the world renowned firm, Intertek (www.intertek-etlsemko.com), to handle all of the company’s testing needs and building code approval submittals.

“Intertek has the track record and the technical expertise to service GigaCrete’s testing needs”, said Erik Hanson, GigaCrete’s CEO.

Intertek has been contracted to conduct everything in-house, which allows for greater efficiency in testing and alleviates the necessity to outsource to multiple testing companies. Currently, Intertek is performing an initial evaluation on the company’s “tier one” product suite. Upon completion, Intertek will conduct all the necessary product tests required to achieve ICC (International Code Council) code approval. Intertek will also consult regularly with GigaCrete regarding the development of production quality control procedures required by ICC to obtain product code approvals.

Significantly, one of the key advantages of working with Intertek is the fact that they offer the “Warnock Hersey Mark,” which is among the most well recognized and respected North American marks of compliance for building codes, association criteria, and product safety and performance standards. The Warnock Hersey Mark appears on many building and construction products including fire doors, hardware, manufactured wood, plumbing, roofing and hearth products, as well as pools, spas and various other items. Overall, there are more than 4,000 building products classified according to type and listed by ETL SEMKO that bear the Warnock Hersey Mark. The Warnock Hersey Mark is an independent verification that a building product meets code standards.

“In addition to seeking ICC code approval, GigaCrete may also look into obtaining the Warnock Hersey Mark for some of its core products,” said Mr. Hanson. “We feel very comfortable and have confidence in having a world-class firm of Intertek’s caliber working with us to achieve code approvals for our products.”

About Intertek
ETL SEMKO is a division of Intertek Group PLC (LSE: ITRK) specializing in electrical product safety testing, EMC testing, and benchmark performance testing. Intertek is among the industry leaders in their scope of testing and accreditations and their client portfolio includes such industry giants as Sony, Samsung, Siemens, General Electric, Motorola, 3M, and Alcoa. With more than 30 offices and laboratories on six continents, Intertek is a leader in global presence as well. To ensure fast, dependable answers, in addition to quick market access, Intertek’s experts and accreditations are comprehensive. In North America, Intertek is recognized by OSHA and accredited by NVLAP, A2LA, ANSI, and ICBO to test building products to the most current standards published by leading North American standards bodies.