Ruukki to Supply Innovative Energy Piles for Technopolis Jyväskylä
04/11/2011 - Ruukki's steel piles will serve both as the foundations and as energy piles to collect free ground-source heat for the new Technopolis Innova 2 office building under construction in Jyväskylä, Finland.
Ruukki's steel piles will serve both as the foundations and as energy piles to collect free ground-source heat for the new Technopolis Innova 2 office building under construction in Jyväskylä, Finland. The building has been designed as energy class B and LEED certification will be applied for. NCC Rakennus Oy is the building contractor.
Ruukki is to deliver total of 367 steel piles, almost 5 kilometers in length when laid end to end, for the foundations of Innova 2. Thirty-eight of the piles will also serve as energy piles using a system developed by Ruukki and Uponor to collect energy. Heat collector pipes are installed inside the hollow steel piles, which are then concreted so that the ground-source energy can be efficiently transferred to the heat transfer fluid inside the pipes.
"Utilization of ground-source heat is ideal for steel pile projects. Energy piles are particularly suitable for commercial buildings that require both heating and cooling depending on the time of year, explained Jyrki Kesti, Technology Director at Ruukki Construction. “Use of energy piles improves the energy efficiency and reduces the carbon footprint of a building.”
Energy piles utilize local renewable energy sources, which improves the eco-efficiency of a building throughout its lifecycle. Certification systems take renewable energy systems into account in rating a building, and certification is also important for the users of the premises. Eco-efficient buildings have significantly higher occupation rates than buildings that have prioritized eco-efficiency.
Simulations have assessed the suitability of energy piles for different types of buildings. Results show that free energy from a ground-source heating solution integrated into energy piles can at best provide as much as 50 to 70% of a building's heating requirements and 50 to 100% of its cooling requirements.
Compared to traditional heating and cooling solutions, the investment in a ground-source heating solution based on steel piles can be recovered in a just 5-8 years, depending on ground conditions and alternative forms of heating. Steel piles are reliable to use since they last and, for example, no structural damage occurs because of temperature fluctuations.
Ruukki is making the steel piles at its works in Pulkkila, Finland, and deliveries for the project in Jyväskylä have already started. In addition to energy piles, Ruukki will also deliver the steel frame and prefabricated wall elements, including installation, for the Innova 2 building. The building is 10,000 floor square meters and is scheduled for completion in spring 2012.
Ruukki sees sustainable development as a business opportunity in the construction sector. This opportunity becomes a success story when the entire sector develops solutions together. Ruukki's mission is to provide products and services to enable its customers and partners to complete safe, environmentally-sustainable projects cost effectively.
Rautaruukki supplies metal-based components, systems and integrated systems to the construction and engineering industries, offering a wide selection of metal products and services. Rautaruukki has operations in 27 countries and employs around 11,700 people. Net sales in 2010 totaled EUR 2.4 billion. The corporation uses the marketing name Ruukki.
