Atom Wood, our off-site wood and concrete floor, composed of laminated wood beams and a thin concrete slab, has just been recognised for its low carbon emissions, particularly sought after in the context of the new RE2020. Explanations.
On Tuesday, December 8, at a webinar on “The future of the concrete sector in construction and property in a carbon-constrained world”, our Atom Wood off-site wood and concrete floor was awarded a “special selection” by the Low Carbon Influencers Hub. This Hub operates as a collaborative platform: it is supported by the French Institute for Building Performance (Institut Français pour la Performance du Bâtiment, IFPEB), which brings together economic players committed to implementing the means for an efficient, market-compatible energy transition for property and construction, in partnership with Carbone 4, a consultancy firm specialising in energy transition and adaptation to climate change. As part of the new RE2020 environmental regulations, the Low Carbon Influencers Hub aims to share best practices and equip its members – property owners, investors, promoters, or general companies – with all the operational tools necessary for the implementation of low carbon.
It is in this context that the Hub chose to grant a “special selection” to our Atom Wood floor: this wood and concrete off-site floor, consisting of laminated wood beams and a thin concrete slab, a part of which is substituted by blast furnace slag, divides the carbon footprint of our floors by three. The mix of materials, which reduces the quantity of concrete while taking advantage of the benefits of wood carbon storage, effectively makes Atom Wood a relevant product for meeting the new thresholds imposed by the RE2020. An environmental regulation that corresponds in all points to our sustainable and responsible “#weBuildforLife” strategy, which especially aims to reduce the carbon footprint of our buildings beyond the imposed thresholds.
Exceptional performance and reduced cost
“We believe that concrete certainly has a place in floors: it acts as a fire barrier between two levels and has very good acoustic performance, thanks to the mass it provides. We wanted to complement the concrete with a laminated-bonded wood rib, which supports the bending work very well”, explains David Elbel, Low Carbon Technical Solutions Director at GA. “There are already wood and concrete floors in France, but to our knowledge, we are the only ones to industrialise this solution in the factory”. Note that in other projects of this type, concrete is poured on site.
“The first tests have given us complete satisfaction regarding the performance of this product. We will be able to take on spans of 9, or even 11 metres, while the systems cast on site only achieve 7 metres of span”. The final advantage of the off-site wood and concrete Atom Wood floor: its cost, lower than that of 100% wood solutions, thanks to the optimisation of the material.
GA has chosen to industrialise this product with the installation of a first dedicated casting bench with a capacity of 25,000 m2/year. Available in early 2022, this bench will be installed in the PREGA plant in Sainte-Croix-en-Plaine, in Haut-Rhin, nearby to a high-capacity wood supplier/sawyer/laminator. Furthermore, in October 2020, we filed the first building permit that includes Atom Wood for the “Astérie” project, a nine-floor office building developing 10,000 m2 of usable surface area in the Armagnac Sud Industrial Area in Bordeaux (Gironde).
Contact
David Elbel
Head of Low Carbon technologie department
