Surface heating and cooling system from aquatherm replaces radiators and climate cassettes – D JO is one of the ten largest orthopedic companies in the world. The U.S. supplier‘s products for orthopedic supplies and physical therapy in orthopedics, traumatology and sports medicine are sold in more than 50 countries. More than 5,000 employees worldwide are involved in the company‘s own production, in subsidiaries and in the service and dealer network. At the German location in Freiburg, DJO have moved around 250 employees into a newly built hall and office complex with 7600 m² of space, from which the markets in Germany, Austria and Switzerland are served.
The construction project was realized by ADLER Immobilien Investment Gruppe from Viernheim. AREPA Gebäude Service GmbH, a company of the ADLER Group, was responsible for the interior fittings and the entire HSKL planning and execution.
”For the air conditioning of the five-story office building, a radiator and air conditioning cassette installation was originally planned. However, after a detailed analysis of the project, we decided to use a system that allowed us to save 10% in costs, reports Thorsten Göck, technical manager of AREPA Gebäude Service GmbH The aquatherm black surface heating and cooling system, which was installed in metal cassette ceilings, was used here. Thanks to approximately 5500 registers made of the corrosion-resistant plastic polypropylene in the size 56 x 60 cm, both the radiators and the air-conditioning cassettes were replaced. In addition, a sophisticated planning of the system succeeded in reducing further heating technology. The originally planned five heat pumps became four, and three buffer storage tanks became two. ”The building’s energy-efficient heating and cooling, as well as the low flow and return temperatures, convinced us,“ says Thorsten Göck.
ENTIRE HEATING AND COOLING PIPING COVERED
aquatherm black emits the temperature of the water flowing through the registers by means of radiation. Drafts or dust swirls created by radiators are excluded by this process and the perceived comfort in the room increases. Since the system operates with lower flow temperatures than conventional heating or higher flow temperatures than other cooling systems, it enables efficiency and energy-saving operation.
The system was assembled within a short period of time. This was made possible by the object-specific production. In the main factory of the aquatherm group of companies in Attendorn, aquatherm black was produced according to the customer‘s requirements allowing to be inserted exactly into the metal cassette ceiling, thus achieving a saving of working time.
Due to the positive effects of using the system from aquatherm, the ADLER Immobilien Investment Group also reconsidered the original planning of the entire heating and cooling piping. Instead of pipes made of copper and stainless steel, they decided to use pipes made of polypropylene: With a length of about 1000 meters and in dimensions between 32 and 125 mm, aquatherm blue pipe, a specialist for the transport of cooling and heating media in closed systems, was used. As already with aquatherm black, this resulted in a significant price saving. The piping system, which scores particularly well with its corrosion resistance, was joined to form a homogeneous, cohesive, and thus safe unit by briefly heating the pipe and fitting with the aid of tools provided for this purpose and then simply joining them together.
With aquatherm‘s product range, everything was possible here from a single source, explains Thorsten Göck. ”aquatherm was a reliable partner from the beginning of the planning to the installation support on site. We are more than satisfied with the result, as the energy efficiency and easy handling speak for themselves.“
