9 Dec 2021

The building was printed by Peri GmbH. A gantry printer was used: the print head moves along three axes on a permanently installed metal frame. The printer was operated by only two people, the print head and the print results were monitored by camera. For one square meter of a wall, the printer needed about 5 minutes.

The construction of the house consists of three-shell walls, which were filled with insulating mass. During the printing process, the printer already took into account the lines and connections to be laid later. This innovative technology not only saves a considerable amount of time compared to conventional construction methods but also significantly reduces the consumption of resources.

For example, the precise placement of the pressure mortar can reduce the amount of material used for the walls by up to 50% compared to other solid wall constructions. In addition, this technology opens up greater freedom in building design. The building was planned by MENSE-KORTE ingenieure+architekten from Beckum, the client is Hous3Druck UG.

Pipe registers integration in prefabricated ceilings

The results in building components meet all requirements in terms of statics, physics, appearance, and sustainability The ceiling of the house was made of precast concrete elements and produced at B. Lütkenhaus GmbH in Dülmen. This is part of the Syspro Group Betonbauteile e.V., an association of innovative companies in the precast industry to form a quality community.

Our member companies manufacture in a resource-saving manner by means of fully automated and optimized production processes using the latest plant technology,” knows Syspro Managing Director Dr. Thomas Kranzler.

In conjunction with the constant optimization of raw material use and concrete formulations, this results in building components that more than meet all requirements not only in terms of statics and building physics but also in terms of appearance and sustainability.

Syspro climate control ceiling

This is also the case with the Syspro climate control ceiling used in the 3D house, which is a precast concrete slab with a statically contributing in-situ concrete supplement. The special feature: The installation of the surface heating and cooling system aquatherm black system from aquatherm was carried out close to the surface between the lattice girders directly on the lower reinforcement layer of the element slabs.

With the result that the heating/cooling coils are protected from site damage after the element slabs have been concreted. In this way, a thermally activated building element is created, as the panel heating and cooling system enable a pleasant, even climate without convection and draughts, and complete freedom in the design of open and modern rooms.

corrosion-resistant plastic polypropylene

The system is installed in the ceiling and gently heats it to surface temperatures of up to 26 °C Made of corrosion-resistant plastic polypropylene, the registers do not heat the air, but the objects, the floor, the walls, the furniture – everything in the rooms. For this purpose, the system is installed in the ceiling and gently heats it to surface temperatures of up to 26 °C. The energy is now emitted into the room as thermal radiation.

Where the heat radiation hits objects, these are heated. The measured air temperature can be about 3°C lower with this type of heating than with convection heating because of the uniform heat radiation from the room’s surrounding surfaces – the thermometer shows 20°C and it feels like 23°C. This promotes well-being and also saves around 18% energy.

Ceiling installation benefit

Installation in the ceiling also offers systemic advantages for passive cooling: Unlike conventional air-conditioning systems, which extract heat from the room through ventilation operation with air movement, air-conditioned ceilings dissipate the cooling load mainly by means of radiation from the room.

With the exception of the partly hygienically necessary air exchange, draughts are excluded by this process, or are reduced to a minimum.

High heating and cooling capacities

Due to the small laying distance of the register pipes and the thus achieved square meter related high surface density of the aquatherm black system, the system can be operated with lower flow temperatures than conventional heating or higher flow temperatures than other cooling systems and in connection with its fast reactivity enables a particularly efficient and energy-saving operation under changing conditions.

The highly efficient split air/water heat pump (Coefficient of Performance up to 5.0 – according to EN 14511 at A7/W35 °C) used in the 3D house with low flow temperatures offers perfect conditions for the heating/cooling system.

aquatherm black system

The registers were already equipped with an optical leakage control system at the factory aquatherm black system was produced according to customer requirements in sizes from 24x60 cm up to 48x500 cm in the main factory of the aquatherm group of companies in Attendorn, South Westphalia. A total of 97.4 m² of the register was used. This corresponds to occupancy in the building of around 60 percent and thus a low occupancy area, which is nevertheless sufficient to heat and cools the building effectively.

The registers were already equipped with an optical leakage control system at the factory. Thus, at the Lütkenhaus company, they only had to be inserted into the prefabricated slabs to be cast. The registers were specially arranged in the filigree ceilings so that a drilling depth of around 2.5 cm could be guaranteed for later installation options.

Achieving Low-Pressure loss

This allows for easy attachment of, for example, lamps or C-profiles of drywall. “Due to the functional design of the aquatherm black system with low installation distance and harp-shaped structure, the thermal energy can be transferred evenly and efficiently in heating as well as cooling mode, so that high heating and cooling capacities with low-pressure loss can be achieved. As a result, the heat and cold can be distributed evenly. Thus, in combination with the low-pressure loss of the system, we achieve high heating and cooling capacities,” explains Marius Bock, Product Manager of aquatherm black system.

Later on, at the construction site, the single prefabricated ceiling elements only had to be connected with each other, the connection of the aquatherm black system registers was carried out by Heinrich Kriener GmbH & Co. KG from Beckum.