Shorter installation times, conservation of resources, and compensation for the shortage of skilled workers: it is not without reason that the trend towards prefabricated piping systems, manifolds, and special components is emerging in modern pipeline construction. After all, prefabrication offers many different advantages in the sanitary, heating, and air-conditioning sector.
We will introduce you to some of the advantages and provide information on two practical examples of aquatherm installations which highlight the positive effects that prefabrication can have on the project site.
Architects and planners are always faced with time challenges when it comes to the installation of sanitary, sprinkler, heating, or air conditioning systems in building projects. On-site installation of complex manifolds or special components in the respective building project causes additional headaches for construction managers.
The possibilities of prefabrication can be used profitably but not only for the scenarios mentioned above. Piping systems, manifolds, and special components are prefabricated by aquatherm from corrosion-resistant polypropylene. Given time frames and external conditions often do not allow the construction of sophisticated manifolds. For this reason, at aquatherm prefabrication, the respective plastic piping system is manufactured and assembled in the factory on 1650 square metres of production area in a clean environment. The final result is not influenced by dirty installation conditions.
As the assembly takes place on site at aquatherm, direct access to all articles of stock is possible. Special features or suddenly changing circumstances on the construction site can be reacted to immediately - without having to accept major time delays.
The prefabricated manifolds shift the complexity and effort from the construction site to the manufacturer. This creates free space on site. The few valuable skilled workers can be deployed on the construction site for more important tasks.
Nowadays, there are only a few applications for standardised distributors in the distribution of liquid or gaseous media. Every construction project has its own specific requirements and challenges. The required piping systems, manifolds and special components are built by aquatherm according to the individual specifications of the customer and shipped ready for installation to any location worldwide. On the construction site, the delivered components just have to be connected to the respective piping system by welding or flange connection.
Whether new construction or renovation, heating, cooling, open or closed systems, aggressive media, or drinking water - aquatherm offers customer-specific solutions. The application possibilities are also convincing. Because even ring-shaped installations in buildings with cylindrical design, or unusual designs such as pyramids with extreme angles, have already been equipped by aquatherm with special fittings.
Do you find the above advantages appealing? Perhaps it takes two practical examples to convince you completely of the plus points? Then you should take a look at the following two projects.
After a construction period of four years, an 18-storey high-rise building has been erected on the United Nations Campus in Bonn. This building has a glass outer shell, interrupted only by two-storey winter gardens. The high-rise is also designed as an energy-saving passive house - a geothermal well, for example, serves as a regenerative energy source.
But the 18-storey building is not just sustainable or energy-efficient. A special sprinkler system was also sought for the new building. This system was to be laid directly into the concrete of a hollow core ceiling. aquatherm red was used. Due to its flexibility, the plastic sprinkler pipe system was easy to integrate. At the same time the system ensured an improved construction process thanks to prefabricated elements.
Thanks to Fusion, the plastic sprinkler pipe system was connected to form a homogeneous, materially bonded, and thus safe unit. For this purpose, the pipe and fitting were heated with the help of tools specially designed for this purpose allowing the components to be joined together. String pipes were also used in the construction project and were prefabricated in the aquatherm factory.
Have the possibilities of aquatherm red made you curious? On the project overview page you will find further details about our product.
Prefabrication helped to meet the timed shell construction deadlines, as the elements were delivered on time, and the welding on the formwork was reduced to a minimum.
In addition, there was no need for small-scale material logistics and stocking of individual parts on site. Thanks to the prefabrication, the assembly personnel could be effectively deployed and kept on hand.
Would you like to learn more about the project on the UN Campus? You can find more details in our project overview.
The largest outpatient clinic building for cancer patients in Germany was completed in 2019 on the campus of the University Hospital Cologne. The floor space of 13,500 square metres offers plenty of room for diagnosis, treatment, and research into tumour diseases. But the technology that has been integrated into the building has to meet many requirements.
A compressor system, which is part of a heat pump, had to be designed with fourfold redundancy. This was the only way to meet the hospital's high safety standards. The system consists of four independent systems (district heating, district cooling and heat pump system as well as a re-cooler). In this way, the supply of heating and cooling to the building complex could be secured.
The narrow technical room of the new building presented the installers with problems - such as with the refrigeration piping. The installation of a conventional piping system would have been impossible in this case. These circumstances made a special solution necessary. In addition, a tight schedule had to be adhered to and there was a need to avoid collision with upstream or downstream trades.
The solution: the prefabrication possibilities of aquatherm as it eliminated the prevailing time and space problems on the CIO construction site. The piping system aquatherm blue was used for the entire cooling centre. In addition, connection manifolds were manufactured. In total, aquatherm prefabricated six individual manifolds, which were delivered to the construction site in eleven sections, ready for installation.
The planning team of aquatherm prefabrication supported the work on site. Mistakes could be excluded, and a precise product could be installed.
Would you like to know more about aquatherm blue? You can get more details on the product page of the same name.
Thanks to the prefabrication possibilities of aquatherm, it was possible to keep to the tight schedule on site. This outsourcing also made it possible to reduce the workload of the trades on site.
The easy handling of the plastic pipe system was also appreciated on site. This is because the weight of the plastic pipes was significantly lighter compared to metal systems.
Have the first details of the project have made you curious? How about a more detailed description? You can find it here.
This is shown above all by the projects aquatherm has carried out together with the UN Campus in Bonn and the CIO in Cologne. With prefabrication, individual conditions can be taken into account and almost every application area is conceivable. You do not have to worry about planning and design; these aspects are already considered in the prefabrication at aquatherm. You benefit from time savings on the construction site as well as from an easier installation of the pipe systems made of plastic (PP-R). All components have a constant quality and are manufactured and prefabricated in Germany.
Are you interested in more information about prefabrication? You can find more details about our prefabrication process on our overview page and in our guidebook "aquatherm prefabrication: Your support in the production of piping systems, special components, and manifolds":
