Digital construction
BIM – the six-dimensional solution
We are committed to digital construction using Building Information Modelling (BIM). This solution involves six dimensions: in addition to three-dimensional planning for project development purposes, digital BIM models are used for the other pivotal dimensions of cost and time. Beyond the construction phase, they are also applied for a property’s use phase to reduce lifecycle costs such as energy, maintenance and repair.
2D
In the world of 2D, architects, structural engineers and building services planners still produce their drafts by hand.
3D
Planners model specific properties in 3D on a computer. The result is a virtual building model containing all building parameters and component information. Regular interference checks bring conflicts in planning to light early on so that they can be addressed quickly.
4D
The BIM software iTWO interweaves a project’s technical and commercial aspects. It allows all relevant planning and execution quantities to be calculated from the consolidated model, while quantity estimates can be linked to bills of quantities and calculations on the basis of defined rules.
5D
By saving products from all suppliers on one purchase and supply platform and linking them to the planning software, costs and resources can be planned more efficiently. Products and services can also be ordered straight from suppliers and tradespeople.
6D
Facility and property management is an area that benefits enormously from BIM through accurate forecasting of running costs even prior to completion. This involves setting out all running and energy costs clearly and transparently, and specifying fixed maintenance intervals.
Custom planning, serial manufacture – how prefabrication works
We work closely with EMC European Modular Constructions GmbH (EMC), which will open the doors to EMC I, its first prefabricated concrete components factory, near Erfurt in March 2021. This will deliver ready-to-install wall and ceiling units made in an automated production process.
Production will be based on architectural plans created using the EMC construction system. Design and production processes will dovetail seamlessly to support this, offering significant cost and time benefits over conventional manufacturing processes. Common sources of error will also be reduced.
Precision planning within the BIM process will ensure just-in-time delivery – regardless of what the weather holds (off-site). The finished building components, which can be customised in every detail, will only be assembled and installed on-site.
Off-site
Parametric construction system based on prefabricated concrete components
CAD model to support architects and planners; CAD data is transferred from the design process to the production process
Manufacture of prefabricated components in a highly automated carousel system
Fully automatic storage system
Integrated management of production, storage and logistics
Delivery of ready-to-install walls and ceilings to the construction site
On-site
We aim to integrate BIM and prefabrication in order to make construction faster and less expensive, while still allowing it to be customised to a high degree, in keeping with our mission to supply high-quality living space at affordable prices.
Cooperation with EMC I
After contributing massively to the setup of EMC I over the past few years, CG Elementum has now sold the prefabricated components factory near Erfurt to a strategic investor. However, production capacity for our own projects has been secured.
Thanks to the central production site of our EMC I partner firm in Amt Wachsenburg, near the Erfurt motorway junction, we will be able to ensure efficient overnight delivery to all relevant locations in Germany.
Our future project: EMC 2.0
In our EMC 2.0 project development in Mülheim-Kärlich near Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, we are planning a logistics centre alongside a production facility with adjoining offices to create a cutting-edge prefabricated components factory.
By establishing a highly flexible manufacturing platform for the sustainable production of construction units, we will be able to significantly increase our vertical integration compared with EMC I and greatly expand our product range, both in terms of materials used and functions served. There is also the option to scale internationally into neighbouring markets.