Concrete as a climate regulator

This is because the building has a stable temperature. One can now mimic this in almost any building by installing pipes in the floor through which water flows, heating or cooling the mass. In doing so, you make a building thermally active. That's what we call concrete core activation. Thanks to BENG (Nearly Energy Neutral Buildings) and the trend toward prefabrication, concrete core activation is all over again. In BENG there are requirements to prevent overheating of buildings. All prerequisites to make the sustainable cooling and heating system a success are in place. Reason for ECHO, producer of ClimaDeck, to bring concrete core activation in prestressed hollow-core slabs to the attention of a larger public in Belgium and the Netherlands, together with Olbecon.

Concrete can store heat and cold due to its high specific gravity. "This is an advantage that should not be underestimated," says Johan Oltvoort, director of Olbecon and exclusive partner of ClimaDeck concrete core activation in the Netherlands. "The total mass of the floor in combination with stony walls can be used to store thermal energy. By making concrete thermally active using water-carrying pipes in the core of the floor element, a building can be very nicely thermally balanced. The ClimaDeck system manages to provide maximum comfort with a minimum of energy."

Ahead of its time

The first concept of ClimaDeck dates back to the beginning of this century. "We put a lot of energy into developing and marketing the product," says Herman Wijckmans, commercial manager for ECHO (part of the CRH group). And with success. Many beautiful projects have already been realized with ClimaDeck." Still, it remained a solution for innovators and early adopters. "The market did not yet appear ready for broad acceptance of concrete core activation in commercial construction. But the climate debate of recent years has changed this. Buildings account for about 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions in the European Union. With this realization, today a lot of property developers, architects and engineering firms are turning to sustainable building systems such as concrete core activation, which combine renewable energy with comfort. In parallel with this, we at ECHO have improved both the ClimaDeck product and the production process, enabling fast, safe and error-free installation on site. Now that we have finished the product and we see demand increasing, we and our partners are convinced that the momentum is there more than ever to gain a solid position in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany."

Prefab solution

ClimaDeck is a total prefabricated floor solution that installs both the floor and the pipes for heating and cooling in one move. ClimaDeck consists of pre-stressed hollow-core slab floor elements into which the high-quality plastic pipes are factory integrated. "The floors and pipes are delivered as one unit, under pressure, to the construction site. Placement is done just like ordinary elements with a construction crane," explains Wijckmans. "After shell construction, the installer connects the registers to the energy-efficient low-temperature cooling and heating circuit, often a heat pump. A major advantage of ClimaDeck with its in-wall piping is that our system comes ready-made from the factory. With our updated connections, unlike an on-site poured wide slab solution, the risk of damage to the piping circuit on site is minimal. In addition, we can achieve much larger spans and do so without underpinning. Light partition walls or other interior walls can be perfectly anchored with the hollow core slabs. For deeper penetrations, a drilling plan is included."

Low temperatures

With ClimaDeck, the entire ceiling surface is used to act as a cooling or heating medium. "This, together with the accumulating capacity of concrete, makes it possible to cool with relatively high temperatures and heat with relatively low temperatures," says Oltvoort. "As soon as the room becomes warmer than the concrete mass, ClimaDeck automatically releases its coolness to its surroundings. Thus, the self-regulating ability of the concrete occurs and provides a comfortable temperature without the inconveniences of traditional cooling systems. Exactly therein also lies the energy efficiency of the system: cooling and heating systems can be dimensioned smaller."

ClimaDeck can therefore make a substantial contribution to the ambition of realizing a sustainable building that also feels very comfortable at the same time. Users of, among others, the town hall in Lochem, the Bayer headquarters in Brussels and several (high) schools and care institutions in Belgium and the Netherlands can speak for themselves. ClimaDeck is also suitable for residential construction and part of a wide range of hollow-core slabs/floors marketed by ECHO and Olbecon. "For this too, our expertise is available to offer the most suitable solution for any project, large or small, from Delfzijl to Luxembourg City, from 12 cm thick to 50 cm thick."