Circular flooring system

AI Quick Summary

We plan to develop a modular, adaptable and reusable flooring solution, that is designed for disassembly (Dfd), uses sustainably sourced, carbon-storing materials, and cuts the end-of-life (EoL) waste. What's the problem?Existing flooring solutions have not been designed to be reused and re-adapted to new configurations which leads to important amounts of waste and CO2 emissions during renovations.Who are the customers?The customers of the flooring solution will be the Real Estate investors and developers who are searching for sustainable alternatives for their new residential and commercial RE developments.Who is part of the team?The team consists of the two founders (Alex and Karl) of Aeternum AG a local startup that has developed a load-bearing system for reusable and re-adaptable buildings, who were joined by Reto Largo, the head of NEST, EMPA.How does it positively impact the environment?Adopting a reusable and re-adaptable flooring system in new buildings will considerably reduce waste for future renovations and changes of usage which is also cutting the CO2 emissions associated with new construction materials and processes.Was the idea already tested?The idea is currently in the design stage but was not tested in real-life applications yet.What will be developed with the financial support and what will be delivered at the end?With the help of the Booster, we will fine-tune our design for the system and we will manufacture the first prototype which we plan to test in real-life conditions in order to assure the fulfillment of all requirements. To achieve that, we plan to collaborate with existing companies in this field.What are the expectations from the Booster?We are looking to partner with a swiss company like Lenzlinger (https://www.lenzlinger.ch/) or similar, to help us with the design and manufacturing, and we hope that this Booster will enable and facilitate such collaborations.An in-depth description of the idea:Our goal is to reduce the demolition waste in the future, as well as the CO2 emissions associated with new construction materials and processes.In order to achieve this, we need to develop and prototype a flooring system that is modular and can be easily disassembled and reused. This system consists of multilayered modules that fulfill all the requirements in terms of living comfort, safety, and health. Each layer is made of materials that are either bio-based and carbon-storing, or out of recycled waste. The flooring modules have standardized dimensions, allowing them to be off-site, mass-produced. This industrialized manufacturing increases the quality, optimizes material use, cuts the waste and due to economy of scale reduces the costs.The flooring system will allow the assemblage of the modular partitioning walls while providing support for the latter. The floor modules have horizontal gaps that allow the passage of various mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) networks. The MEP systems can be as well re-adapted or changed based on the requirements of the new spaces. The access to the MEPs is quick and "maintenance-friendly." The flooring system will also integrate suitable floor-heating solutions that will allow the user to control even the needed "hot-floor" region.The flooring system has to fulfill a set of requirements:a. in terms of comfort:Live load-induced vibration dampeningSound barrierSmart floor-heating solutionThermal insulationb. in terms of safety:Fire protectionWater tightnessStability and strengthc. in terms of health:no VOCs, radon, or other indoor air pollutants

Project Idea Metadata

• Project Idea Name: Circular flooring system
• Date: 12/9/2021 9:38:53 AM
• Administrators:
  • Alex Muresan

Project Idea Description

What's the problem?

Existing flooring solutions have not been designed to be reused and re-adapted to new configurations which leads to important amounts of waste and CO2 emissions during renovations.

Who are the customers?

The customers of the flooring solution will be the Real Estate investors and developers who are searching for sustainable alternatives for their new residential and commercial RE developments.

Who is part of the team?

The team consists of the two founders (Alex and Karl) of Aeternum AG a local startup that has developed a load-bearing system for reusable and re-adaptable buildings, who were joined by Reto Largo, the head of NEST, EMPA.

How does it positively impact the environment?

Adopting a reusable and re-adaptable flooring system in new buildings will considerably reduce waste for future renovations and changes of usage which is also cutting the CO2 emissions associated with new construction materials and processes.

Was the idea already tested?

The idea is currently in the design stage but was not tested in real-life applications yet.

What will be developed with the financial support and what will be delivered at the end?

With the help of the Booster, we will fine-tune our design for the system and we will manufacture the first prototype which we plan to test in real-life conditions in order to assure the fulfillment of all requirements. To achieve that, we plan to collaborate with existing companies in this field.

What are the expectations from the Booster?

We are looking to partner with a swiss company like Lenzlinger (https://www.lenzlinger.ch/) or similar, to help us with the design and manufacturing, and we hope that this Booster will enable and facilitate such collaborations.

An in-depth description of the idea:

Our goal is to reduce the demolition waste in the future, as well as the CO2 emissions associated with new construction materials and processes.

In order to achieve this, we need to develop and prototype a flooring system that is modular and can be easily disassembled and reused. This system consists of multilayered modules that fulfill all the requirements in terms of living comfort, safety, and health. Each layer is made of materials that are either bio-based and carbon-storing, or out of recycled waste. The flooring modules have standardized dimensions, allowing them to be off-site, mass-produced. This industrialized manufacturing increases the quality, optimizes material use, cuts the waste and due to economy of scale reduces the costs.

The flooring system will allow the assemblage of the modular partitioning walls while providing support for the latter. The floor modules have horizontal gaps that allow the passage of various mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) networks. The MEP systems can be as well re-adapted or changed based on the requirements of the new spaces. The access to the MEPs is quick and "maintenance-friendly." The flooring system will also integrate suitable floor-heating solutions that will allow the user to control even the needed "hot-floor" region.

The flooring system has to fulfill a set of requirements:

a. in terms of comfort:

• Live load-induced vibration dampening
• Sound barrier
• Smart floor-heating solution
• Thermal insulation

b. in terms of safety:

• Fire protection
• Water tightness
• Stability and strength

c. in terms of health:

• no VOCs, radon, or other indoor air pollutants

We plan to develop a modular, adaptable and reusable flooring solution, that is designed for disassembly (Dfd), uses sustainably sourced, carbon-storing materials, and cuts the end-of-life (EoL) waste.