BUILD BEYOND TOMORROW

WICONA presents new developments for circular construction at BAU 2023

At the world's leading trade fair BAU in Munich from 17-22 April 2023, WICONA will be presenting numerous innovations for sustainable construction and a circular economy under the motto "Build Beyond Tomorrow". At booth 338 in hall C1, architects, planners, and partners from the metal and facade construction sectors will have the opportunity to learn about future-oriented concepts for façades, windows and doors and get advice from the WICONA experts.

Circular economy with WICONA

With climate change on the rise, thinking and acting sustainably is becoming increasingly important for companies in the construction industry. Hydro Building Systems – which also includes the WICONA brand – recognised this early on. As part of its comprehensive future strategy "Build Beyond Tomorrow", the company aims to halve its CO₂ emissions and achieve a circular economy by 2025. An important part of this is the conversion of almost all WICONA aluminium systems to the sustainable aluminium alloy Hydro CIRCAL. This consists of at least 75% end-of-life aluminium, thus ensuring a consistent resource conservation and reduction of CO₂ emissions. With "75/95", WICONA has now gone even further, integrating Hydro CIRCAL into a more far-reaching and holistic concept. This means that all new system solutions contain at least 75% recycled material and 95% recyclable material.

With 75/95, we can reduce the CO2 emissions of our new products by at least 65 %. The concept is unique in the market and supports our partners in constructing future-oriented and sustainable buildings. This is another important step for all of us towards a circular economy and will be a central theme at BAU 2023.

Ralf Seufert, WICONA Managing Director

"New Generation" of façades, windows and doors

At the trade fair stand, WICONA will be presenting numerous "New Generation" window, door and façade innovations – made from the sustainable aluminium alloy Hydro CIRCAL. For example, the WICSTYLE 75 NG - a consistent further development of the WICSTYLE 75 evo door series. This is available, among other things, as a barrier-free "zero threshold solution" with optionally integrated drainage channel. Another new product is the non-insulated single-chamber door system WICSTYLE 65 N NG with a basic depth of 65 mm. Thanks to the modular concept, the standard version of the door can be easily upgraded with smoke or fire protection features, for example.

A highlight in the area of façade systems is the WICTEC 60 NG. The high-performance construction was specially designed to accommodate storey-high and heavy triple or quadruple glazing. It can carry an infill weight of up to 850 kg. In addition, WICTEC 60 NG has a highly impressive thermal performance with U-values of 0.67 w/m²K (Ut/m) and a wide range of design options.

One of the innovations in the window segment is WICLINE 90 SK. This high-performance solution with a basic depth of 90 mm builds on the proven WICLINE 75 evo system, now offering even better thermal insulation as well as higher infill thicknesses to accommodate larger glass thicknesses and to integrate additional features such as thermal insulation, burglar resistance or sound insulation. Last but not least, WICONA will present the further development of the successful lifting/sliding door system WICSLIDE 150 PS as well as the new designer handle series WICTOUCH.

Future-oriented façade solutions in application

At the trade fair stand, trade visitors will also be able to see for themselves how sustainable and future-oriented building envelopes of the future can be designed using original mock-ups of current highlight projects. One example is the “Innovationsbogen Augsburg”. The façade of the high-tech office building designed by Hadi Teherani was the first project in the world to be made of Hydro CIRCAL 100R – the aluminium alloy made from 100% end-of-life aluminium. Also on display: The façade construction of the K8 building complex in Stavanger designed by Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects (Copenhagen). In this case, a project-specific version of the closed cavity solution WICTEC Modul Air is used.

Digital building/façade planning with WICTOP 9.0

The trade fair presentation will be rounded off by the latest developments for digital building and façade planning. In focus: WICTOP 9.0 – the latest version of the 3D planning software for metal construction companies and planners. Expanded 3D features including a complete 3D interface enable even more efficient project processing and optimised interfaces, for example when importing CAD files or for the connection to REVIT. Another innovation is the integrated augmented reality application. This allows projects to be visualised realistically in the surrounding and urban context. In addition, a QR code can be used to generate a digital ID of each individual component. This means that all the necessary information can be tracked digitally, from production through usage to recycling.