VODAFONE SITE SOLUTIONS INNOVATION CENTRE, SACONCRETE CORE TEMPERING

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SOUTH AFRICA SALES OFFICE

JOHANNESBURG, REHAU Polymer (Pty) Ltd, Pellmeadow Offi ce Park, Building B, Ground Floor, 60 Civin Drive, Bedfordview, Johannesburg, South Africa, Phone: 011 201 1300

Fax: 011 201 1350

www.rehau.co.za 11/2011/rowy

REHAU CONCRETE CORE TEMPERING SYSTEMINSTALLED IN INNOVATION CENTRE, SOUTH AFRICA

The six-star rating makes the Site

Solution Innovation Centre one

of Africa’s most environmentally

sustainable buildings. Located

at the Vodacom Campus in

Midrand, South Africa, it will be

powered with renewable solar

energy, use passive and thermal

cooling / heating technologies.

WSP Group commissioned

REHAU South Africa to design a

Concrete Core Tempering (also

referred to as Thermally Activated

Building Systems or simply

TABS) to augment and operate

in conjunction with the aircon-

ditioning system. Concrete Core

Tempering (CCT) is a method of

introducing heating or cooling

into a concrete structure by

means of embedding a series of

pipes in the concrete fl oor or ceil-

ing slab. The heating or cooling

energy thus produced is used to

substitute the heating or cooling

The single fl oor slab resulted in

a relatively simple installation.

Rolls of PE-Xa (cross-linked

polymer) pipes were decoiled on

site and fi xed to a steel mesh.

The loop lengths were designed

in such a way that there were no

joints required. Prior to casting

the concrete layer, the system

was tested at 6bar pressure.

The system was placed under

pressure the entire time it took

to pour the concrete. In this way

we were able to monitor the work

activity and check for leaks. As

a testimony to years of global

development and experience the

installation was leakproof and

the concreting operation went

smoothly.

“This is the second design, sup-

ply and install project undertaken

by REHAU Johannesburg and

served as a learning curve for the

fl edgeling CCT industry in South

Africa. This has enabled REHAU

in Johannesburg to confi dently

The Vodafone Site Solutions Innovation Centre has been awarded South Africa’s fi rst six-star Green Star rating. The building is expected to be completed by the fi rst quarter of 2012.

load generated by a central

airconditioning plant. Studies

have shown that as much as

70% of the airconditioned air can

be replaced in this way through

passive radiant heating/cooling,

saving on the electricity costs

used to drive the air-conditioning

system, as well as the size of the

air-conditioning plant.

CCT design was done by REHAU

in Ross-on-Wye, UK, whilst the

REHAU offi ce in Johannesburg

did the installation. The system

design consists of 18 loops, cul-

minating in 2 x 9 port manifolds,

generating approx 24.3 kW/m2

of cooling energy and 63 kW/m2

of heating energy. Approximately

2500m of 20 x 2mm PE-Xa pipes

were used on the project.

present its credentials and, with

its second successful project

complete, go into the market

with an installed base.” says Cliff

Barnard, Business Development

Manager at REHAU.

The CCT (passive heating/cool-

ing) industry is in its infancy in

RSA and requires a paradigm

shift in thinking by architects and

consulting mechanical engineers.

A recent article in the “Earth-

works” magazine states that

buildings use up to 15% of

the world’s energy usage with

HVAC accounting for 40% of

this amount. With world-class

technology REHAU is well placed

to play a leading role in the

reduction of these levels using

CCT technology.