Building for the future Even if Gira will not be breaking ground for the new production, logistics and office building with a footprint of approximately 30,000 m² in Radevormwald until 2016, planning for this important project already started in the spring of 2014. It was important to ensure that the new building does justice to our sustainability goals both during its erection and especially during operation. "We want to create a good, energy-efficient building that suits our requirements. We are building for the future," emphasises Andreas Dürwald, Head of Manufacturing and Logistics at Gira and Project Manager. For this reason, planning and construction are based on the specifications of the German Sustainable Building Council [DGNB]. In addition, our architects Matthias Sauerbruch and Louisa Hutton enjoy an international reputation for their multiple award-winning "green architecture".

Flexibility and interaction The draft of the building and the master plan for its occupation and use are already finished and have been approved by the shareholders. "The construction team is proud that with these plans it has succeeded in ensuring very flexible use of the space, fast building extensions as well as permitting direct exchanges between the divisions in the new building," explains Martin Brochhaus, Head of Corporate Development. The effective interaction between the divisions is also reflected in the design of the outer façade. This will have an interlocking structure and show how important it is that Production, Logistics, Shipping and Innovation work closely together.

Planning together with users A major and central element of planning is the concept for the technical building equipment It was therefore correspondingly important for all specialist planners to sit down at one table with the project team, architects and the subsequent users of the building to work out an optimum solution together. "The topic of sustainable construction is having an increasingly stronger influence on planning and the design of buildings," comments Dietmar Daszkiewicz, Head of Facility Management. "Energy saving regulations such as the German Energy Saving Ordinance (EnEV) and the German Renewable Energy Heat Act (EEWärmeG) affected a great deal of our planning work," he explains. The main challenge was to find the optimum balance between the statutory regulations, functionality, the needs of the future, architectural design and our own wishes.

Efficient building operation The air conditioning system of the new building was planned with special care. In addition to heating, effective cooling of buildings is a great challenge. In light of the climate changes that we have to expect, especially with longer periods of hot weather, this function is becoming increasingly important. To boost energy efficiency, in the new Gira building great emphasis was placed on systematic heat recovery. An efficient combined heat and power unit is installed as a central heat generator that also supplies power for the company's own needs. At the same time the generated heat is converted by absorbers to cooling energy for the individual areas. Evaporation cooling with rain water is also used for lowering the temperature. Both heating and cooling media are stored in two large intermediate sprinkler tanks, each with a volume of 1200 cbm for use when required. Acoustics was another important aspect.
To minimise stress caused by noise, sound-insulating materials are used throughout the offices above the production facility. A Gira automation system ensures that the technical building functions and components in the new building can be controlled according to use and users.