Wetzikon, July 3, 2008
Wetzikon cabling specialist Reichle & De-Massari AG (R&M) is investing in a new build-ing to cater for the company’s continuing growth. On July 3 the company took advantage of the groundbreaking ceremony to present the “R&M Cube“ to the public. The building will conform to high-performance Minergie standards and boast a low-exergy HVAC sys-tem with zero use of fossil fuels and minimal electricity. Energy will be provided by a geothermal heat pump system. The project is being commissioned by Reichle Immo-bilien AG, a member of the R&M Group.
R&M’s new commercial premises, the “R&M Cube“ are to be located at No. 32 Binzstrasse, Wetzikon. For reasons of sustainability, the company’s proprietors, the Reichle family, have decided to base this development on low exergy principles. At the root of this sensational build-ing services engineering concept is the use of a geothermal heat pump and ground probes to produce energy as an all-embracing sustainable solution. With a geothermal storage system such as this to provide heating and cooling, the running and maintenance costs will be mini-mized and energy resources will be safeguarded. There will be no use of fossil fuels such as oil and gas, thus keeping the CO2 footprint small, and only small amounts of electricity will be needed to top up energy requirements. Ground probes will be used as a source of energy for the geothermal storage system: the free-cooling system will require fifteen probes to be bored 165 meters vertically into the ground, while the heating system will need some thirty 200-meter probes. A heat pump will extract the geothermal energy supplied by the probes in a closed-loop system.
The main idea of this energy concept is to create a technical infrastructure that is capable of satisfying the needs of the building’s future users. Complementing each other in perfect har-mony are the building’s fully integrated architecture, statics and building services. The aim is to satisfy the future users’ high economic and environmental expectations by means of meticulous planning and engineering with the resultant maximization of energy efficiency. The design has deliberately been kept simple to enable the integration of ultra-lean building services, i.e. a modular, structurally intelligent solution that involves paring the HVAC system down to its bare essentials. The geothermal energy is captured by a heat pump and injected into the HVAC loop; the waste heat is recovered. The concept depends on keeping the energy cycle sealed and the use of exergy as low as possible.
With a compact outer shell and excellent insulation, the building will be cube-shaped for rea-sons of optimum energy provision and efficiency. It will be ventilated and will benefit from a heat-recovery system. The water supply will be environmentally benign and designed to mini-mize consumption – the toilets, for instance, will use recycled rainwater.
The decision to build new commercial premises demonstrates R&M’s commitment to Switzer-land as a business location. Despite the company’s use of high-tech automation, expansion of its production capacity will create new jobs in the short and medium term. The new building will initially house 350 workplaces, though the design allows for up to 500. Using its own resources, R&M has doubled its turnover in the past five years and is continuing its disciplined growth strategy. Benefiting from a gross floor area of 16,000 square meters on five floors, the building will house the Production, Logistics, Innovation and Development departments – plus Product Management – and will be linked to a fully automated, 4500-pallet, high-rack warehouse.
The Bubikon production facility is close at hand – at no. 33 Binzackerstrasse. The “R&M Cube“ is scheduled to be ready by the end of 2009.
Facts & Figures
Reichle & De-Massari AG (R&M) develops and manufactures passive cabling solutions for communication networks. With high quality products for copper and fiber optic solutions, R&M has acquired a reputation as a quality leader. The company dominates the Swiss market and has branches or local partners in 29 countries. 75 per cent of sales are generated abroad. Sales in 2007 amounted to CHF 241 million with an EBIT of 13 per cent. More than CHF 7 million are invested annually in research and development. R&M has a workforce of around 700. The com-pany is fully owned by the Reichle family and is managed by the second generation as an inde-pendent family enterprise.
Current images of the de-velopment available from desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-1254/
Contact: Reichle & De-Massari AG, Esther Derendinger, Public Relations, Binzstrasse 31
CH-8620 Wetzikon, Phone +41 44 933 83 30, Fax +41 44 933 83 03, E-mail esther.derendinger@rdm.ch