Brooklyn Park, Minnesota

Design Ready Controls

A 100,000+ square foot manufacturing, warehouse and office building heated by thermal mass panels under the concrete. Compared with the engineering estimate for other systems, it has saved about $500,000 on heating.

Thermal Mass Floor Heating

Building: 100,000+ sq ft manufacturing, warehouse and offices
Savings: About $500,000 compared with the engineering estimate

Rows of ThermaRay thermal mass panels laid across the ground inside the Design Ready Controls building before the slab — Panels across the building floor before the slab. Still from the testimonial video.

The challenge

Design Ready Controls needed to heat a manufacturing, warehouse and office facility of more than 100,000 square feet, and wanted the lowest cost over the life of the building.

The system

ThermaRay thermal mass storage floor heating was installed under the concrete. The panels warm the slab and the ground beneath it, building a thermal mass 2 to 2½ feet deep that stores heat and releases it only when the space above cools.

No foam insulation goes under the panels. Heat can only move toward something colder, so it stops spreading once it reaches the temperature of the earth, around 54°F. The larger the mass, the lower the operating cost.

The result

Compared with the engineering firm’s estimate for the other systems, the company has saved about $500,000 on heating, and the savings keep adding up over the life of the building. In the videos, the developer explains why he chose the system, and an onsite technician shows how it goes in.

From the project story on premierenergyusa.com. Read the original post