Especially for a company in the future-oriented biotech sector whose existence depends on innovation, it is important to provide motivated employees with an atmosphere in which they feel completely comfortable. A major step towards achieving that can be seen in an intelligently planned and efficiently built heating and cooling system – especially if the new office building happens to be in a region with plenty of sunshine.
For that reason, the Santo Service GmbH in Holzkirchen in southern Germany invested a lot of planning effort up front to find a concept for efficient air conditioning in the 4,000 m² of office space in the new administration building. A virtual 3D model proved to be a great help: "We first simulated the dynamic cooling and heating load of the complex. That meant that even in the draft phase we could try out various glazing and sunscreening options. That allowed us to determine the true energy requirements for the actual operational situation, and in turn plan the plant more effectively," explains Axel Scharff, the responsible BSE planner at GE-Planung GmbH.
The thorough pre-planning has paid off: The heating and cooling supply for the building could be designed in such a way that, compared with conventional planning, the requirements went down by a factor of 3.
Economical, corrosion-resistant connectors
The use of Megapress, the press connection system for thick-walled steel pipes, proved to be equally economically sound. Cooling pipes made of non-alloy steel piping must have a layer of protective anti-corrosion paint. It is complicated and time-consuming to apply the primer and topcoat on site – but with welded pipes there is no alternative.
Thanks to Megapress there is no need to do that: "The steel pipes used were pre-painted in the factory. We could install them directly using Megapress," as Axel Scharff points out in describing this technically and economically sensible alternative to welding. Also, the Megapress connectors themselves are already protected against corrosion in the factory by means of a zinc-nickel coating. Where nearly 2,500 connectors have to be used, that adds up to a significant saving in time – quite apart from the fact that press connections can generally be made up to 60% faster than welded connections.