Building physics & technology

Sophisticated technical solutions for safe buildings

On average, people spend up to 90 per cent of the day in buildings. The orientation of rooms towards the health and well-being of users and occupants has an enormous influence on productivity, performance and quality of life. Whether office buildings, schools, kindergartens, clinics or residential buildings - our room solutions, which are customised to the respective needs and requirements, meet all the technical and legal standards that modern buildings must fulfil today.

To ensure that users feel completely at ease in our rooms, it takes more than just an inviting ambience. The feeling of safety in buildings - both objective and subjective - influences the well-being of users in the building. The topics of statics, fire protection and building physics play a central role here and have not only a technical but also an emotional impact. They are the basis for a building being perceived as inviting, safe and pleasant. Consequently, they are also elementary factors in the approval process for the construction of a building.

Integrated planning with experienced modular construction experts

Our experienced specialists support and advise you in the planning of the building. With our own experts, we cover the specialist areas of architecture, technical building services, fire protection, building physics and statics. The specialist sustainability planning department prepares project-specific life cycle assessments and supports clients in the context of DGNB and BNB certifications.

Responsible for all structural aspects of the building, from preliminary design to the preparation of verifiable structural analysis. Contact person for external structural engineers.

Everything related to thermal and sound insulation: calculation of thermal bridges and component-specific U-values, moisture protection tests, room acoustics tests, and more.

Responsible for building safety in the event of fire, such as recording fire safety information, reviewing and testing fire safety concepts, and providing evidence.

Conception, design, and implementation of electrical engineering systems, from high-voltage current, telecommunications, and information technology systems to lightning protection and grounding systems.

Deals with all requirements relating to technical equipment with mechanical systems for heating, ventilation, and sanitary engineering.

Responsible for the integration, use, maintenance, needs analysis, and further development of our CAD and BIM applications for building modeling.

Preparation of project-specific life cycle assessments, support in the context of DGNB and BNB certifications, analysis, evaluation, and implementation of legal and normative requirements.

Planning the building envelope with a wide variety of facade constructions.

User safety is the be-all and end-all

The modular steel construction method makes it possible to realise buildings of building class 5 with up to seven storeys plus staggered storeys. Office buildings, educational properties, healthcare properties and residential buildings up to building class 4 can be constructed using the steel-timber modular construction method. Tested structural analyses are available for each module. These are prefabricated structural calculations specifically for a standardised component or building type that is used several times in the same or a similar form.

As the structural calculations do not have to be created anew for each individual project, the type structural analysis saves time and costs in the planning and approval process. Our specialist planning department ensures that the type statics are always up to date and comply with current building regulations.

In addition to technical and organisational measures, design and construction details in particular ensure that the spread of fire is prevented in the event of a fire and that a rapid evacuation is possible. Modular buildings pose a challenge in terms of fire protection when it comes to approval planning. However, ALHO is now creating legal certainty with the aBG F30.

The general construction type approval (aBG) F30 confirms that the construction product "module" complies with the fire resistance duration of 30 minutes (F30), that the construction type, i.e. the combination of several modules to form a building, is permissible and that the aBG may be used in the building supervisory procedure, thereby simplifying and accelerating approval processes. This significantly reduces the formal and organisational effort required for verification and acceptance, which also increases deadline reliability. The certificate also confirms the performance, functionality and quality of the ALHO modular construction method.

Optimum building physics properties

Building physics is a field of physics that deals with the effects of physical properties on structures and buildings. The physical principles of construction technology and their permeability to heat, sound, air and moisture are analysed and the corresponding protective measures that can be taken for insulation.

The building physics values of modular buildings are in no way inferior to those of conventionally constructed buildings. Regardless of whether it is an office building, school, daycare centre, healthcare property or residential building in modular construction: The building physics properties in terms of fire protection as well as sound insulation and thermal insulation are realised in the prescribed values in modular construction across all areas of application. This means that modular buildings comply with the applicable country-specific standards.

Modular buildings from ALHO fulfil all important building physics properties.

Thermal insulation refers to all structural and technical measures that prevent heat exchange between the inside of the building and the outside. The aim is to achieve a consistently pleasant indoor climate by keeping the heat inside the building in winter and preventing the heat from penetrating in summer. This also saves energy for heating and cooling.

There are two types of thermal insulation: winter and summer thermal insulation. Winter thermal insulation involves measures that ensure that as little heat as possible escapes from the building to the outside. The most important influencing factors here are the insulation of walls, roof and floor, the glazing of windows and the airtightness of the building envelope. In the case of summer heat insulation, various measures are aimed at preventing rooms from heating up too much. In addition to insulation, sun protection measures such as roller shutters, blinds or special glazing and ventilation concepts such as night ventilation play an important role.

In terms of thermal insulation, modular buildings fulfil the requirements of the current Building Energy Act (GEG). A particularly energy-efficient and sustainable building is created thanks to a detailed, customised component design that enables a high level of component insulation. In addition to cosy warmth in winter, protection from strong solar radiation in summer can also be guaranteed. In this way, modular buildings offer a cosy indoor climate all year round. A combination with renewable energies such as solar thermal energy, geothermal energy or photovoltaics is possible without any problems. This increases the already good energy balance and building physics values and ultimately leads to long-term cost savings. On this basis, further measures, such as the building physics requirements for a KfW subsidy, are also possible.

Sound insulation is a key issue in building physics. It ensures that the interior of the building is reliably protected from disturbing noises and, conversely, that no noise penetrates from room to room, storey to storey or from the building to the outside. The minimum requirements that apply to sound insulation are set out in the individual state building regulations.

Modular buildings have very good sound insulation due to their design. The double-shell wall and ceiling system means that the respective sound insulation requirements can not only be met, but even exceeded. The sound insulation values measured in the realised modular building are usually significantly better than the legally required building physics values, both in the floor slab area and in the partition wall area.

In particularly noisy areas, such as classrooms or offices, particularly good sound insulation can be achieved through structural measures such as the installation of acoustic ceilings, thus creating more comfort for users.

Structural measures that serve to protect against moisture prevent moisture from accumulating in the building, thereby reducing the load-bearing capacity and thermal insulation or causing mould to form and endangering health. On the one hand, it must therefore be ensured that neither moisture such as rain, snow, splash water nor soil moisture or pressing groundwater that rises into cellars, for example, can penetrate the building from the outside. On the other hand, measures are taken to prevent moisture such as water vapour, which is produced when cooking, showering or breathing, or water from leaking pipes and appliances from accumulating in the building.

The system structure in modular construction and the engineering design of our modular buildings ensure moisture protection in terms of building physics and thus that moisture cannot penetrate the structure. All relevant DIN standards regarding the sealing of buildings, the sealing of roofs, loggias and balconies, components in contact with the ground and interior spaces are of course complied with. The use of dry construction materials in the interior also ensures that the buildings are ready for immediate occupancy and that building moisture cannot develop in the first place.

On average, people spend up to 90% of their day indoors. This applies in particular to residential buildings, schools, nurseries and offices. High air quality is important for general well-being and preventive health protection. In this context, we speak of indoor air hygiene. The aim here must be to take measures to keep the air healthy and low in pollutants.

A decisive factor here is to ensure that as few pollutants as possible are released into the indoor air from building materials, wall and floor coverings. Only tested and low-emission materials are used in ALHO modular buildings. The VOC and TVOC values in the modular building are well below the relevant guideline values and usual indoor air concentrations.

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