Intelligent Architecture in Lüdenscheid

Learning and Working in a Smart Building.

With its new building DIAL has sent out a signal: the future lies in intelligent, fully automated, user-oriented buildings. DIAL itself was responsible for the complete design and planning of the building's technology and monitored the whole process from concept to final implementation of the building. Since then the software controlled building has undergone continuous further development. Man, his needs and feeling of well-being have been the focus of attention from the very beginning, true to the motto that the user does not serve the building but the building serves the user.

A holistic approach was taken for the integral design of the architecture and technology. Even the reduced concept of colours has been implemented throughout the company, right down to the digital user interfaces. All the technical systems in the building such as window shading, lighting and air-conditioning are part of the same interconnecting network. No system functions independently. An operating software controls and regulates the building's functions, based on the information available. False floors leave space for new technologies and maintenance and all applications are linked via a common network. One of the results is the high energy efficiency of the new building which was constructed almost completely as a passive building and does not require a conventional heating system. Operation of the building is almost exclusively via PC Apps which the employees use to influence the quality of the air, the temperature and the quality of light. With just a few clicks the workplace can be adapted to individual needs.

DIAL building

Architecture

There are approx. 2900 square meters of floor space over three floors. The complex room layout includes:
•   an atrium with catering area
•   offices and meeting rooms
•   a laboratory for lighting experiments (White Laboratory)
•   a photometric laboratory (Black Laboratory)
•   an automation laboratory
•   further seminar rooms and laboratories

Atrium

Very low energy consumption is achieved via a favourable area/volume ratio (building shell/building volume), a very effective insulation ratio (30 cm throughout, thermal conductivity 035) and an airtight building shell. Sources of heat in the building itself and the passive activation of massive building elements (ceilings, exterior walls) are integrated into the concept since walls and ceilings store thermal energy in the building and contribute to the heating and cooling of the rooms.

Building Automation in Smart Buildings

The comprehensive technical installations were planned independently of each other and yet result in an ingenious interplay. Users (window blinds, luminaires, ventilation system, heat pumps, etc.) and sensors (presence detectors, temperature sensors, meteorological stations) are part of a network. None of the systems work independently. An operating software controls and regulates the functions of the building on the basis of the information provided by the sensors.
False floors enable easy access to the installations for maintenance, repair, refurbishment and extension of the technical systems. The central ventilation device on the roof, with a performance of 25.000m³/h can generate dual air exchange. This device ensures the required exchange of air in the offices. A recuperation heat exchanger ensures that both warm and cold air from the extracted air are used so that, as a rule, additional heating /cooling is unnecessary. However, should there be higher heating or cooling requirements, this is ensured via reversible and incremented air-air heat pumps. The required ventilation system is thus upgraded to a partial air-conditioning system - a conventional heating or cooling system is not required at all.

Lighting

The illumination of the offices consists of indirect ceiling lighting and additional spots which set lighting accents on specific areas. The possibility of providing shade with window blinds with adjustable louvres was planned so that, even when the blinds are lowered, daylight can still enter the room and, thus, energy be saved. The window blinds are automatically controlled via sensors on the outside walls, but can also be adjusted individually by the user via an app. The office lighting follows the principles of human centric lighting (circadian) – the light is adjusted to the biological rhythm of the human user.

Office

Even the exterior lighting is integrated into the lighting concept. Both the façade and the trees behind the building are illuminated according to the time of day and the degree of daylight brightness so that there are no dark areas on DIAL's premises. The building appears inviting to visitors even during the hours of darkness.