U-Bahn® Beton - RIVM + CBG in Utrecht

Building with Recycled Plastic Products: Lightweight Slabs with U-Bahn® Beton for Sustainable Construction

In contemporary construction, the quest for innovative and sustainable solutions is increasingly paramount. Within this context, lightweight slabs with U-Bahn® Beton emerge as a high-performance and environmentally conscious choice.
Crafted from recycled plastic, U-Bahn® Beton modular formwork exemplifies the principles of the circular economy.
The advantages of this technology extend beyond environmental benefits, offering tangible improvements in construction efficiency.

Why Choose U-Bahn® Beton for One-Way Lightweight Floor Slabs?

As a lightweight and stackable void former, U-Bahn® Beton provides exceptional design flexibility. Unlike brick piñatas and polystyrene formers, it facilitates the creation of cavities for the passage of cables and installations.

PERFORMANCE ADVANTAGES

Maximum Versatility: U-Bahn® Beton is ideal for the production of precast slabs, significantly reducing construction time and labour costs.
High Precision and Uniformity: The U-Bahn® Beton void former ensures perfect concrete rib geometry, enhancing structural performance.
Improved Site Cleanliness: Its compact and modular design minimises waste and debris on site, promoting a cleaner and safer working environment.
Enhanced Seismic Performance: The presence of a double reinforced concrete shell imparts greater rigidity and seismic resistance to U-Bahn® Beton slabs, making them ideal for areas with high seismic risk.

APPLICATIONS

U-Bahn® Beton is the optimal solution for lightweight one-way slabs in a diverse range of buildings, including residential, commercial, office, industrial structures, and public buildings such as schools and hospitals. It is particularly suited for applications that require one-way slabs and floors where minimizing structural loads is essential.
This system not only reduces the need for concrete and steel but also significantly lowers the building’s embodied carbon footprint.

A notable application is in underground construction using the “top-down” technique. Unlike traditional open-air construction that progresses from the bottom up, this method involves constructing load-bearing slabs from the top down, alternating slab construction with the excavation of lower levels.
This technique is often employed in the development of underground car parks in historic city centres, where the presence of adjacent buildings and the necessity for rapid road system restoration pose significant constraints.

Uboot Beton per solai alleggeriti

VOIDED SLABS FOR EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE

U-Boot® Beton allows for a reduction in mass of up to 30% compared to a solid concrete slab, resulting in an overall reduction in load of between 10% and 20%.

The devastating force of an earthquake, causing damage to buildings and people, is an unpredictable natural event that can challenge our safety and stability. Therefore, it is important to proactively address the challenge of earthquakes through a combination of preparedness, scientific understanding and preventive action.

THE REGULATORY FRAMEWORK

One of the objectives of civil engineering is to ensure maximum resistance of structures to the effects of earthquakes, protecting human life and minimising structural damage to buildings. In this sense, all the most advanced technical standards that are the reference for designers, such as Eurocode 8 EN 1998-1, refer to two primary performance principles that must be satisfied: the protection of human life in the case of seismic events of infrequent intensity and the limitation of damage to structures in the case of seismic events that may occur with some frequency.

International standards for the design of horizontal slabs allow this type of deck to be considered not only as horizontally rigid, but also as a structure capable of dissipating seismic energy.
As a result of numerous experimental campaigns, it appears that the behaviour of slabs subjected to horizontal actions also allows these systems to be studied as primary in terms of seismic resistance.
Similar results are reported in the technical notebook developed by the Politecnico di Milano entitled “Reinforced concrete voided slabs subjected to gravity and seismic actions”- D.Coronelli, L. Martinelli, F. Foti – 2016. In the near future there will be a real revolution in the seismic analysis of buildings, which will give further impetus to the use of slabs in general and, consequently, to lightweight slabs.

Uboot Beton solai a piastra alleggeriti

A VOID FORMER MADE OF RECYCLED PLASTIC

During a seismic event, the force acting on the structural system is directly proportional to the mass of the building and the acceleration of the underlying ground. It is therefore obvious that if you want to reduce the actions involved, you can act on the mass of the building.

With a view to increasing the sustainability of buildings, the Daliform Group has developed a technological, practical and effective solution for creating voided biaxial slabs using U-Boot® Beton, a recycled plastic void former certified to the Second Life Plastic (PSV) standard by IPPR, the Institute for the Promotion of Recycled Plastics.

Although the use of slabs is not the only way to design a seismically resistant building, the choice of a two-way slab becomes the most usual when it is necessary, from an architectural point of view, to create structures with no regularity in the plan.

PROJECT FOCUS

A concrete example of the result of the above points is the new university campus in Milan, home to the SDA Bocconi School of Management.
An urban redevelopment project on the site of the former “Centrale del Latte”, designed by architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of the Japanese studio Sanaa, covering an area of 36,000 square metres.

The decision to use U-Boot® Beton in this project enabled the creation of a sinuous and curved floor plan, deviating from typical designs and perfectly meeting high-performance standards. This approach resulted in a more slender load-bearing structure, even vertically. Compared to a solid slab of the same thickness, using U-Boot® Beton allows for a mass reduction of up to 30%, leading to an overall load reduction of between 10% and 20%.

Cassero in plastica riciclata Uboot Daliform

IGLU'® Smart fondazioni ventilate per cella frigorifera

IGLU’® SMART the smart ventilated cavity

IGLU’® SMART is the disposable formwork’s innovative system for the creation of ventilated cavities with more flexibility and simplicity and a faster installation speed.

Specialized in the production of recycled plastic products for the construction industry, Daliform Group has signed numerous innovations over the years that have improved the way of building.
Among these Iglu’® Smart, a disposable eco-friendly formwork made of recycled plastic, ideal for covering large surface areas in considerably shorter time frames than with normal formworks.
Iglu’® Smart’s unique, innovative configuration and special interlocking system with adjustable notches in its two appendages, allow for easy adjustment of the size of the formwork’s plan in both directions, at right angles to each other, horizontally and vertically.
In addition to the standard dimensions 50 x 50 cm, 52.5 x 52.5 cm, and 55 x 55 cm, with Iglu’® Smart it is also possible to obtain non-standard dimensions such as 55 x 52.5 cm, 52.5 x 50 cm, 50 x 55 cm, or 50 x 52.5 cm.
Simply by adjusting the position of the overlap between the formworks, i.e. by shifting the formwork using the pre-set notches, without using additional accessories such as extension systems, for example.

Riqualificazione urbana a Boulogne-Billancourt in Franciav

DALIFORM GROUP – Creation and production of plastic products for the construction industry

The Daliform Group Company in Gorgo al Monticano (TV), has always been concerned with providing innovative solutions in the construction field that are oriented towards environmental protection and energy saving.
The Iglu’® and Atlantis Systems, based on disposable formworks in 100% recycled polypropylene, originally made to create ventilated crawl spaces and cavities, over time have found more and more uses in other fields of application, like: rainwater collection tanks, bike paths, green houses, anti-root applications, green roofs, geothermic and heat recovery.
During the last years these products have had an important success on architects and landscapers with their use on green roofs in urban areas.
Nowadays urban spaces must be revised: the citizen who lives in large cities like Milan, Paris, London, Tokyo and New York feels the need for greenery, shuns asphalt and concrete.
Not surprisingly, and increasingly, both in the interventions of new urbanization and urban redevelopment, the best architects of the moment foresee that the ground level above the basements are used as greenery with trees, plants, bushes, lawns and, of course, equipped with play areas for children. These areas are increasingly thought of as a real simulation of natural environments, with slopes, hills and changes in altitude.
The most important problem during the realization of these compositions is to create different levels without excessively burdening the load-bearing structures.
Thanks to the Iglu® and Atlantis System products, it is possible to create spaces at different levels quickly, easily and absolutely economically by configuring the space in a flexible and dynamic way: a simple concrete completion casting, reinforced with a very light electro-welded mesh, will provide you with a support that, covered with a layer of a few tens of cm of fill soil, will transform what was previously a cemented space into a real green urban area.
Among the many references of Daliform Group products, one stands out in particular in the context of a social housing complex’s redevelopment in the city of Boulogne Billancourt (Paris), subject to massive redevelopment by great architects such as Jean Nouvel, Renzo Piano, Herzong & De Meuron to name a few.
Daliform Group is the point of reference in the construction industry for those who design, distribute and construct.
Is an innovative company that spreads the culture of excellence by offering the best products and best solutions for the environments in which we live, work and enjoy ourselves, that aspires to help everyone working in construction to do it better, more efficiently and more attractively, improving the quality of life.

Iglu’® Green Roof by Daliform Group for green roofs in the cities. New gardens for the city’s life.

Green architecture against the social degradation. A trend which is spreading day by day not only like a concept of the residential and private building’s furniture, but also to redevelop some degraded suburbs’ areas with innovative solutions from the technological point of view.
This is the case of a social housing complex in the city of Boulogne Billancourt (France), once inhabited by the workers of the Citröen, now incorporated by Paris itself and subject to massive redevelopment by great architects such as Jean Nouvel, Renzo Piano, Herzong & De Meuron to name a few. What was once a popular area is now turning into one of the most modern and chic districts of the “Ville Lumière”. The intervention concerned two buildings built in the 1960s, in a state of decay and inhabited by socially difficult people, to whom it was decided to make the living space more pleasant and livable: the separation surface between the two buildings, to cover the garages, it was then transformed into a green area.
The main problem that arises in the realization of these compositions is to create the different levels without excessively burdening the load-bearing structures. Of course, the existing structure had limited possibilities to be further loaded and therefore the use of Iglu’® Green Roof and the Atlantis System was the ideal solution to the problem. In fact, thanks to the Iglu’® Green Roof and the Atlantis System it was possible to create spaces at different levels quickly, easily and absolutely economically.
Daliform Group has always been concerned with providing innovative solutions in the construction field that are oriented towards environmental protection and energy saving. The Iglu’® and Atlantis systems, based on disposable formworks in 100% recycled polypropylene, initially created to create ventilated crawl spaces and cavities, over time have found increasingly widespread use in other fields of application such as: recovery and collection of rainwater, cycle paths and greenhouses, anti-root applications, roofs and hanging gardens, geothermal energy and heat recovery.

Fight against the capillary rising moisture with IGLU’®

Iglu’® is the leading market product, created and patented for the realization of sanitary spaces, ventilated cavities, under-floor cavities, ventilated floors and roofs during the construction and renovation of civil and industrial buildings.

The ventilated cavity, realized with Iglu’®, is an effective solution to the problem of rising moisture on the flooring, because the under-floor cavity’s ventilation placed under the floor, dries it naturally. Thanks to the cavity, the building can breathe, by constantly eliminating the moisture: this technique was born already at the time of the ancient Romans.
To guarantee an appropriate ventilation, both in renovation and in new buildings, the connection of the ventilated cavity to the outside with simple pipes is necessary.
As a matter of fact, to obtain a natural “chimney effect” is necessary to position the inlet holes on the northern side at a height just off the ground and the outlet holes on the southern side at a higher point (preferably up to the roof), being careful to connect the various rooms of the foundation grid together so that the entire under-floor cavity is connected. The ducts positioned inside the wall with southern exposure will heat up, causing an upward motion intaking air from the under-floor cavity.

A ventilated under-floor cavity created with Iglu’® represents an effective, quick and economic solution that makes it possible to send humidity and dangerous Radon gas to the atmosphere, which is beneficial to our health.

Tanks for rainwater collection and dispersion

Atlantis System by Daliform Group is the ideal solution to create tanks for rainwater collection and/or dispersion.

The tanks for rainwater collection and dispersion are installations suitable to collect rainfall peaks, allowing sewage and water treatment plants to work at the most constant regime with unquestionable economic benefits and operating efficiency, even in peak load situationsz

Atlantis System by Daliform Group is the ideal solution to create tanks for rainwater collection and/or dispersion.
Atlantis permits the creation of a reinforced concrete tank, cast directly on site, with various dimensions in plan and height up to 300 cm to maximize the volume. The structure obtained thanks to Atlantis System is made by a slab on grade, perimeter walls and a slab supported by vertical supports. The structure guarantees a high resistance to permanent and imposed loads.

The tank created with Atlantis System by Daliform Group can be laid underground to obtain a green area above it, or made it suitable for the transit of even heavy vehicles.
The created tank is vehicle accessible and can be created under squares, roads and car parks, both commercial and industrial. The tank aims to mitigate the effect “flood” caused by exceptional weather conditions.
This way, the draining capacity, which the cement had previously taken away, is returned to the soil without any visual or environmental impact.

Protecting the road pavement from trees’ roots

Trees’ roots often represent a problem for sidewalks, bike paths and roads. By creating a cavity with the Atlantis System, below the road pavement, the roots are prevented from breaking the overlying pavement.

Urban greenery has become an indispensable aspect for improving the quality of life and making cities more vibrant and colourful.
Often, however, the green is simply inserted to the side of roads, on sidewalks or bicycle paths. Maintenance work must be carried out regularly as the tree roots raise the pavement until breaking through and then going back underground, following a horizontal path.

The Atlantis System, born to create ventilated cavities, can easily solve these problems because, thanks to the cavity created by itself, allows roots to grow in their natural way, without damaging the overlaying pavement.
This System by Daliform Group, avoids the constipation of the terrain for the creation of the pavement and allows the realization of a cavity that facilitates gas exchange and tree stability, preventing the lifting of the soil.

There are many advantages for the community: no maintenance costs for the sidewalk/bike path; greater “satisfaction” for residents who will not complain about damaged pavements; fewer accidents involving the elderly or people with limited motor skills; the public green area can be designed to support any vehicular traffic.

There are many advantages for the greenery: creation of a greater volume for the expansion of the roots with a consequent increase of the tree stability; greater drainage of rainwater; integrable with irrigation systems or with tanks for the reuse of rainwater; no lifting of the soil as the roots, finding the right oxygenation and the right compaction, do not need to emerge.

Improving the seismic response of buildings thanks to the lightened slabs with U-Boot® Beton

When you erect new buildings, the structures have to be designed to resist to seismic stress, as prescribed by the anti-seismic standards.

Daliform Group, Company that has always been outstanding for its capacity to create new innovative products, has developed seismically efficient building solutions: putting some hollow elements in recycled Polypropylene, called U-Boot® Beton, in horizontal structures to optimize the distribution of the concrete masses, thus reducing the quantity used.

In this way, you obtain the additional advantage of saving steel for the reinforcement: with the same thickness compared to a monolithic slab, with U-Boot® Beton you get a weight reduction of up to 40%. This has a positive effect on the rest of the structure thanks to the reduction of seismic and gravitational actions.

All this leads to larger structural meshes, absence of emerging beams, more flexible spaces and more adaptable environments over time.

U-Boot® Beton replaces the obsolete and problematic traditional lightening systems in polystyrene and brick, ensuring superior structural performances, high quality standards of the slab and a perfect and homogeneous intrados finish, allowing to satisfy even the architectural needs.

U-Boot® Beton guarantees excellent performances even when used for structures to be built in the most demanding seismic areas.