enercret absorber pile installation for energy extraction/storage: Eco-friendly and efficient overall concept for heating and cooling using absorber piles and thermoactive floor slabs in steel-reinforced concrete. - Completion: 2001 - Floor space: 55,000 m2 - Concrete core heating/cooling: 28,000 m2 - Partial load coverage: heating: 150 kW cooling: 350 kW - Annual energy output: cooling: 80 MWh heating: 80 MWh - Client: Norddeutsche Landesbank, Hannover - D - Architect: Behnisch, Behnisch & Partner, Stuttgart - D - Energy concept: Transsolar Energietechnik GmbH, Stuttgart - D - Building services consultant: ARGE Becker + Becker, Braunschweig - D enercret installation: Piping systems through which water is circulated were embedded in the piles for the purpose of extracting heating/cooling energy from the ground. The water absorbs the cool ground temperatures through the concrete and transports it to the central heating/cooling system. The cool ground temperature (13 °C in Central Europe) is used directly. A heat pump extracts thermal energy during the heating period. The absorber pile installation consists of 122 cast-in-situ piles with a diameter of 90 cm and a length of approx. 20 m, each incorporating 4 loops (8 vertical pipes). Some 20 km of piping was laid in the piles and the 122 circuits were connected up to the manifolds using around 17 km of piping. Thermoactive floor slabs: (Hydronic radiant heating/cooling, concrete core heating/cooling) Absorber units through which water is circulated were laid in the concrete floor slabs in order to utilize the heating/cooling energy within the interiors. Pipe circuits made of cross-linked polyethylene (PE-Xa piping) with dimensions of 20/2 mm were placed on spacer elements and laid at 15cm intervals in the centre of the slab cross section. Shortly after the piping was laid, the top floor reinforcement was laid on the spacer cages which are specially manufactured for this product to protect the piping. The installation comprises some 505 floor slab absorber units with over 77 km of piping laid in 8 floors. Benefits: - Pleasant room climate thanks to large-surface cooling/heating - No unpleasant draughts - Low investment costs - No maintenance, extremely low running costs - Long service life - No restrictions on interior design - Possibilities for all building projects Project sheet download: To download the PDF file, please click here .* ) * ) To view PDF files you will need the Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you do not have this software, you can download the Acrobat Reader here free of charge.