Electric heating in the world’s tallest timber building in Norway.

Wednesday, 23 September 2020

Mjøstårnet is an 18-storey mixed-use building in Brumunddal, Norway.

Officially the world's tallest timber building at 280 ft tall, Mjøstårnet translates as “the tower of lake Mjøsa”. The building is named after Norway’s biggest lake, which it is located beside.

Designed by Norwegian studio Voll Arkitekter, Mjøstårnet has a combined floor area of around 122,000 sq ft.

The building offers a hotel, apartments, offices, a restaurant, and common areas, as well as a swimming hall in the adjacent first-floor extension. This extension is about 51,000 sq ft in size and is also built from wood.

The Challenge:

Develop a cost efficient heating system that ensures high comfort for hotel guests and no maintenance costs for hotel owners

When working on commercial buildings, hotels, offices etc. investors are usually facing several challenges when considering heating of the building. For instance, in the hotel area, cost and energy efficiency is highly important, but on the other hand comfort of hotel guests should not be compromised. All of this should be achieved with low or no maintenance costs if possible.

As the Mjøstårnet building was aiming for full sustainability, the right choice of heating system became even more essential. Additionally, by 2050, there is a target that 84% of electricity demand should come from renewable energy sources. With this, the electric heating would comply with sustainability of the building.

The Solution:

Robust electric heating cable with 20-year warranty bringing sustainable warmth

All 72 hotel rooms are equipped with electric underfloor heating installed in the bathrooms. A robust heating cable with concealed joints was used, meeting the M2 requirements of the tough IEC 60800: 2009 standard. The heating cables have a 20-year warranty.

Mjøstårnet has already received both national and international recognition for the building with the awards at the Norwegian Tech Awards in the Building and Construction category; and Gold in the New York Design Awards 2018 in the Architecture - Mixed Use - International category.

The Result:

Innovative example of sustainable building

The world’s tallest wooden tower in Brumunddal—where emphasis has been placed on using materials using expertise from the local area—is gaining a lot of international attention. It shows great potential for making construction greener by using more wood.

Mjøstårnet is an innovative example of a sustainable building in an industry responsible for huge emissions.

Project overview:

System output: 300 W/m²
Installed power: 21,6 kW
Year of implementation: 2019

Facts about electric heating:

Electric heating is energy efficient and environmentally friendly, meeting your needs in various applications. It enables great comfort and convenience while ensuring user-friendly solutions with lasting effects and the highest quality standards.
 
Electric heating solutions are supported by legislation in key European countries. Directives that are coming into force in the biggest European markets give the green light to this technology: use eco-friendly systems and new materials to ensure energy saving.