Are you asking yourself who are the best brands of Aluminum Composite Material in the United States? Well, you are not alone, we are often asked the same question, so we decided to create the first unbiased “Big 4” industry list of the best-known brands of ACM in North America for the building façade industry. The reason we call this the first “unbiased” list is because industry associations and trade publications create their lists based on a “pay-to-play” principle. Often the largest advertisement or top-ranked player in these lists simply paid the most for that privilege.
In this article, we go over the Big 4 ACM Brands in no particular order, using publicly available information and easily referenced sources to make a truly objective and unbiased report. The goal of this article is to help you become more informed about the use of Aluminum Composite Material in the construction industry.
Alucobond®
3A Composites is a global market leader in core materials for sandwich constructions, particularly for use in wind farms. The company is also a leading player in other segments such as composite panels for facades and display applications.
• Who owns Alucobond? 3A Composites
• Where is Alucobond headquartered? Germany
• Where is Alucobond manufactured? Germany, China, India, USA
Reynobond®
Arconic® is a leading provider of aluminum sheet, plate and extrusions, as well as innovative architectural products, that advance the automotive, aerospace, commercial transportation, industrial and building and construction markets.
• Who owns Reynobond? Arconic®
• Where is Reynobond headquartered? France
• Where is Reynobond manufactured? France, USA
Vitrabond®
Fairview Architectural specializes in the design, manufacture and distribution of the highest quality metal façade system solutions in the United States and Canada. With the greatest selection of colors and finish options in the industry, we are dedicated to the timely and consistent delivery of innovative façades that exceed the requirements and vision of each project.
• Who owns Vitrabond? Fairview Architectural
• Where is Vitrabond headquartered? USA
• Where is Vitrabond manufactured? Korea
Alpolic®
Alpolic is proud to be a global leader in metal composite manufacturing. The premium MCM products have inspired new aesthetics and enabled new design possibilities for decades.
• Who owns Alpolic? Mitsubishi
• Where is Alpolic headquartered? Japan
• Where is Alpolic manufactured? Japan, Germany, USA
There are other brands of Aluminum Composite Material such as DIBOND®, GATORFOAM®, SINTRA®, and FOME-COR® which are for signage and display uses and are not suitable for use in the construction industry.
When used for building facades, Aluminum Composite Material (also known as ACM, ACP or MCM) is regulated by governing standards and building codes relevant to the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) over the construction project. To that end, all four brands listed above comply with many of the common testing requirements, for fire, impact resistance, product integrity, finish durability, and more as required by the various building codes.
For more information about the testing requirements for metal composite material, you can reference Section 1406 of the International Building Code (IBC) for USA, and Section 10 and 15 of the National Building Code (NBC) of Canada.
