PASCHAL is supporting the preparatory work for an innovative pilot project for a commercial building made of infra-lightweight concrete

Resource efficiency and sustainability are becoming increasingly important in the construction industry in particular. To allow highly aesthetic premium-quality fair-faced concrete facades to satisfy ever growing ecological demands, the focus is increasingly on monolithic styles where just a single material is used for the load transfer and for thermal insulation.

For the construction of the DGNB-certified green building on behalf of REWE, the building shell is to be made from infra-lightweight concrete which, as load-bearing thermal insulation, is ideal for permanent, sustainable and visually appealing fair-faced concrete buildings.

Sustainable supermarkets in a monolithic construction style

With its green building concept, the REWE Group has developed a new standard for sustainable supermarkets which combine modern architecture with energy-efficient technologies and the use of renewable energies.

The plans for this innovative pilot project, the construction of a new REWE supermarket in Berlin, involve the use of infra-lightweight concrete for the outer walls. With its raw density of just 700 kg/m³ and the associated low thermal conductivity, the building physics and static requirements can be satisfied with a multi-storey, monolithic concrete construction – without additional thermal insulation. As such, high fair-faced concrete surfaces can be realised.

However, approval is required in individual cases since a final approval from the building authorities is still pending for the material infra-lightweight concrete. To this end, extensive component testing is required to confirm the fire behaviour. These tests are being conducted at the Technical University of Berlin (TU Berlin).

Testing of fire behaviour with help from PASCHAL

As part of material testing, test walls made of the infra-lightweight concrete ILC 700 were manufactured at the TU Berlin, which has been conducting research into infra-lightweight concrete for some years now. Testing is being assisted by the engineering office schlaich bergermann partner Berlin. With E&W BauTec GbR from Fürstenberg/Havel, a construction company with extensive experience in lightweight concrete structures has also been found.

E&W BauTec GbR is using the resilient LOGO.3 wall formwork from PASCHAL for the construction of the test walls. Excellent fair-faced concrete results have already been achieved with PASCHAL for the standard version.

It was no coincidence that PASCHAL was chosen as the formwork supplier. The two companies have already showed themselves to be a perfect team in infra-lightweight concrete construction in past projects, such as the pilot project "Betonoase" in Berlin.

In addition to the large-size LOGO.3 panels 240 x 340 cm, various LOGO.3 compensation panels and outisde corner posts were used as rental formwork for the construction of the two 3-metre-high test walls.

The PASCHAL team also used their formwork planning software with BIM technology PPL 12.0 to assist with formwork planning.

For the subsequent testing of the fire behaviour, appropriate measurement technology was embedded in the walls, which then recorded the temperature development in the walls during the testing process.

The tests are scheduled for November 2020 in a fire chamber from MFPA Leipzig GmbH, a company specialising in material research and testing.

Construction of the next REWE market is in the starting blocks

Once permission has been granted, construction of building shell of the new REWE supermarket can get underway. And it goes without saying that if the construction contract is awarded, E&W BauTec GbR will again be using the proven formwork from PASCHAL.