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A PR IL 2017 | 13 PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY TERMOBUILD CANADA; PEIKKO CANADA INC. Precast Concrete In terms of weight , CarbonCast Insulated Architect ural Cladding and High Performance Insulated Wall Panels can be up to 40 and 50 percent less respectively than conventional precast; as for CarbonCast Double Tees, they can replace conventional steel mesh reinforcing in the flange with C-Grid car- bon fibre grid. Because C-Grid will not corrode, users don't have to worry about the potential for reinforce- ment degradation, concrete spalling or rust staining. The same applies for grid reinforced piling. This year, AltusGroup is unrolling its new Arcis ultra-thin panels that have the durability and versa- tile esthetics of prestressed concrete, but without the weight. Arcis panels use stainless steel cable as the prestressing element. "This is a very strong product platform that is highly sought in the U.S. for multi- family residential, light commercial, retail and indus- trial applications," says Carson. "As with CarbonCast, we expect a substantial penetration into the Canadian market over time." Peikko Canada's contribution to innovation in the concrete world is Deltabeam, a composite beam used for slim-floor construction and whose shallow design decreases the building's floor-to-floor height along with eliminating conflicts with HVAC systems. The sys- tem was most recently used in Azure, the tallest resi- dential tower in London, Ontario, to maximize vertical space and make the most of this valuable property. Deltabeam Slim Floor Structure and its long spans enable architects to create open spaces with grids of up to 12 by 16 metres. It requires less building materi- als and allows for flexible layouts over the entire life- cycle of the building. When building downward, the excavation depth is also minimized. Each beam fits perfectly to the structure and the pre-designed, stan- dardized connections; a small crew can erect a multi- storey building faster than with any other system on the market. Given the spirit of innovation dominating the precast world, it was perhaps inevitable that someone would come along and create "smart" concrete, and that is pre- cisely what Jack Laken, president of Termobuild Canada has done, with his team of environmentally-minded engineers working during the pre-construction stage to create a hybrid system of smart floors and ceilings linked with small off-the-shelf HVAC equipment, in order to pro- duce a sustainable building solution. Precast hollowcore concrete slabs are an integral part of the "building as a battery" design because of its ability to store and distrib- ute heating and cooling in any climate on demand. Essentially, fan-assisted ventilation pushes fresh air through a series of main ducts that are fed into smaller branch ducts, strategically placed within the larger hollowcore slab structure. As the air passes through the ducts, the concrete warms or cools the fresh air before supplying it to the occupied space. As Termobuild clients such as Sheridan College, University of Windsor, medical buildings, and many others have found out, Laken's system allows a build- ing to perpetually leverage and activate its own dor- mant thermal properties, courtesy of its built-in "building as a battery" design to deliver predictable performance certainty. "And because the system uses a significantly reduced quantity of building materials, it costs the same or less to construct than conventional systems," says Laken. He goes on to remark, "We've enjoyed tremendous success since installing our first system in 2003, and more and more developers are understanding how dormant concrete can be transformed into active con- crete. The benefit alone of eliminating the need for bulky mechanical systems and providing more clear space to work with cannot be overemphasized. Better still, many architectural designs already have the right + Hollowcore slab structure used as a "smart floor" for radiant comfort and ventilation — Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School, Burlington, ON. DeltaBeam slim-floor system for multi-storey buildings — Sunningdale Residential Building, London, ON.

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