Climate-friendly living on the water
"Floating houses" with cuprotherm panel heating from Wieland
As part of the "Living on Water" project, the prototype of a "floating house" was launched in Kiel in 2005. It combines traditional shipbuilding techniques with new ecological concepts. Also on board: cuprotherm panel heating systems from Wieland.
In November 2005, a launch on the Kiel Fjord caused a sensation the likes of which the Baltic Sea had probably never seen before: not a ship was launched here, but a house! It was the first prototype of a "floating house" that a community of shipbuilders, architects, designers and engineers had realised as part of the international project "Living on Water". The starting point of this project was the approach to combine maritime shipbuilding tradition with ecological, sustainable construction. Durability, modular construction and ease of repair go hand in hand with resource-saving construction methods, modern solar architecture and intelligent building services.
Because it has no drive, the "floating house" is not a houseboat in the true sense of the word, but because of its buoyancy it is not a property of the conventional type either. It is supplied with energy exclusively from renewable sources. Underfloor, wall and ceiling heating surfaces, which can also be used for cooling in summer, ensure a pleasant indoor climate with low flow temperatures. The planners chose the cuprotherm surface heating system from Wieland, the best-selling and most frequently installed copper tube surface heating system in Europe. Chosen firstly, because of its technical advantages over other systems, but also because of its sustainability: despite the challenging maritime environment, the copper material promises a durability of around 80 years, hence over the entire life cycle of the "floating house". After that it can be 100 percent recycled.
A special feature of the prototype is also that the cuprotherm wall surface heating in the wet construction system is executed in clay plaster, the copper pipes are attached to reed mats. Because it allows precisely defined flow conditions in each heating circuit, the heating system enables a particularly efficient operation, not only economically but also ecologically.
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Cuprotherm surface heating
Ecologically and economically optimal: The cuprotherm tubes of the wall surface heating are attached to reed mats and covered with particularly breathable clay plaster.
