Viega World - The future of building construction

Viega is opening its 12,200 m² Viega World interactive training centre in Attendorn-Ennest, just one kilometre away from its headquarters. The spectacular new building is a beacon project that defi nes the digital future of construction: this is the fi rst time that a training facility has been constructed strictly in accordance with the Building Information Modelling (BIM) working methodology. The driving force behind this fl agship project was the huge turnout at Viega seminars. Every year, more than 20,000 visitors from all over the world participate. More than a third of these are welcomed at the Attendorn-Ennest site, where the new building – a pioneering development for the entire construction industry – is being built in close proximity to the existing seminar centre and production facilities.

Innovative knowledge transfer

Viega World off ers an attractive selection of seminar events throughout the year. These will cover specialist topics such as maintaining drinking water quality and energy effi ciency. In addition, specific technical topics will also be the focus of the seminars, such as systems from Viega for pre-wall and drainage technology, for surface temperature control and for gas installations. 

However, Viega World is not just a new, larger training centre. Viega World – implemented via integral planning with the BIM methodology –becomes training content itself. This means that many of the installations that contribute to the high energy effi ciency of the climate neutral building, or to maintaining the quality of the drinking water, can be viewed and understood on site and in practice, just like the relevant measurement data and protocols.

Special BIM expertise

The Viega World interactive training centre has become a model project for the future of digital construction because it has laid the groundwork with regard to BIM. Many of the insights gained during the planning and construction phase, for example through cooperation with experts from “E3D – the Institute of Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Building” at RWTH Aachen University, have already been incorporated into the most important regulations, such as VDI standard 2552 (Building Information Modelling, BIM). Viega shares this knowledge as part of its specialist seminars.

A benchmark for sustainable building

Thanks to the early and comprehensive support from the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE (Freiburg) during the planning phase, Viega World has emerged as a particularly sustainable, resource-efficient training centre. For example, it generates more energy than it consumes. This is made possible by a properly insulated building envelope (KfW Effi ciency House 55), but above all by the use of renewable energies. For example, a photovoltaic system covering several thousand square metres generates electricity and two heat pumps make use of existing energy in the environment. A Viega production plant also provides local heat. On balance, this will make the new training centre climate-neutral.

Optimal energy use

To get the most out of the energy available, Viega has installed the Fonterra water-based radiant heating and cooling system in the suspended ceilings of the seminar centre to create a large energy store (keyword: component activation). This captures the yield surpluses of the photovoltaic system and ensures that a constant temperature is maintained throughout the year – thus eliminating energy-intensive heating phases after the weekend when the building has not been occupied. 

This ecological standard was one of the reasons why the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) awarded Viega’s new building a platinum rating during the planning phase – the highest possible pre-certification rating.

Discover more about Viega World here