Timoleon has tailored an underfloor heating solution powered by renewable energy sources for a leading market research company’s new headquarters building.
The project uses Timoleon’s Foilboard “screedless” underfloor heating system which provides an instant, fast track alternative to wet screeds and performs efficiently at flow temperatures as much as 10 ̊C lower than other floating floor systems – making it a perfect partner for heat pumps. An air to water heat pump combined with solar panels will be used as the prime energy sources for the new premises of Marketing Means at Ashburton in Devon. The former railway goods shed – a Grade 2 listed building - is being converted into a 2-storey head office for the company, which uses telephone surveys and face- to-face interviews to research views on subjects ranging from politics to customer services.
Clients include local government, police authorities, housing specialists and financial institutions.
Listed status
The refurbished building, which is located within Dartmoor national park in Devon, has been the subject of a major upgrade of its energy profile – where this does not conflict with its listed status. The windows, floors and ceiling are being insulated to current building regulations. Two of the external walls are also being insulated to the same high standard. Elsewhere, however, the original un-insulated stone has had to be retained giving rise to high heat losses in certain areas.
To overcome this problem, while retaining a high COP for the heat pump, Timoleon devised an underfloor heating solution using a number of the company’s specially developed products. On the ground floor a Foilboard “screedless” system has been employed, with 100mm Timoleon FoilBoard topped by a floating floor of Screedboard 20. Timoleon FoilBoard comprises high density insulation material with a layer of aluminium bonded to the upper surface – into which channels are preformed ready to accept Timoleon’s 15mm polybutylene heating pipe.
The system is ideal for use with floating floor constructions, with heat from the aluminium diffuser layer radiating evenly across the entire surface of the floor. Both straight and loop return sections are available, all of which can be easily cut – Timoleon uses soft tempered aluminium - to meet the exact dimensions of the floor. At Marketing Means the pipework centres have been closed up to 150mm centres rather than the standard 200mm to maximise the efficiency of the heat pump - achieving full comfort conditions from comparatively low temperature water.
Maximum output
On the upper storey a Timoleon Toron system has been used to achieve maximum output in order to overcome the losses through the old stone walls.
The Toron flooring system combines a floor deck with an underfloor heating system in a single, structurally loaded entity. The new, patented, system comprises 22mm thick panels of moisture resistant, flooring grade chipboard, ready tongue and grooved and routed to accept Timoleon’s 10mm polybutylene underfloor heating pipe.
Pipe is fitted into the channels on the upper surface of the chipboard modules - thus ensuring that the heating element is as close to the floor finish as possible. This maximises the heat output of the modules, while reducing the temperature of the water required.
Timoleon Toron modules can be used in exactly the same way as conventional chipboard. They speed up installation, while keeping overall floor thickness to a minimum. The pipework loops for the Timoleon systems are connected to the heat pump via discreetly located manifolds. Systems are zoned to give a degree of localised control in response to individual room thermostats. When the system is in operation heat is distributed evenly across the entire floor area - combining total comfort with discreet, tamper-proof invisibility and low maintenance requirements.