Cobiax

Design Flexibility and Cost Reduction

Barker Steel LLC is the licensed supplier in the US of the Cobiax® technology and products for concrete reinforcing.   The Cobiax® technology is used for creating voided slabs, efficiently eliminating concrete where it is not required.   The use of positioned voids reduces the dead weight without modifying the flexural strength of the slab.

Cobiax® has been successfully tested and used with outstanding results since 2004 throughout Europe in projects such as:

• National University of Ireland (Galway, Ireland)
• BRG Parking Garage (Freistadt, Austria)
• Altra Sede (Milan, Italy)
• Center for Virtual Engineering (Stuttgart, Germany)
• Patek Philippe manufacturing building (La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland)

In the United States, the Miami Art Museum in Miami, Florida, is under construction, scheduled to commence in the summer 2011; and the Harvard Life Science Complex in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is waiting for a new start date.

• Cobiax Properties and Benefits
• Cost Saving Elements for Suitable Projects
• Sustainability Impact
• Learn More About This Innovative Structural Solution

Cobiax installation in action

Click here to view a Cobiax installation

Cobiax Properties and Benefits

• Large spans, without beams
  • Up to 60’ spans without beams
  • Flat soffit – gain of inner volume

• Spacious architecture – Bi-axial load transfer
  • Eased and optimized use
  • Eased and flexible planning

• Reduced structural depth
  • Lower floor to floor and/or more headroom
  • Reduced foundation excavation
  • Lower building volume
  • Reduced perimeter surface area

• Increased earthquake safety
  • Reduced horizontal forces on supports
  • Limited damage risks

• Resource effectiveness
  • Direct building material savings
  • CO₂ emission reduction

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Cost saving elements for suitable projects

Direct Cost Savings	Further Cost Saving Elements
Steel Static reinforcement PT cables and supports Chairs & Stirrups	Construction time gain Cycle times (formwork) MEP (mechanical, electrical plumbing) installation
Concrete Vertical elements Walls and Columns Stairs and Elevators Facades Plumbing	Volume gain Height reduction, and / or Less volume for heating and AC Addition of floors, or More gross surface Internal space increase Higher value of surfaces
Formwork Beams Coffers / Troughs Column capitals	Surface use flexibility Retrofitting cost reduced
Foundation Volume
MEP materials (mechanical, electrical plumbing)

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Sustainability Impact

• Direct CO savings through the reduction of the volume of concrete used (Each cu. ft. of concrete displaced eliminates 13 lbs of CO² *)

• Reduction of transports to the job site:
  One truckload containing Cobiax cage modules on average replaces 6 ready mix truck trips

• Reduced heat island effect: the mass of concrete causes it to act as a significant thermal reservoir, so steady internal temperatures are easier to maintain.  This effectively helps to even out night and day temperature swings as well as seasonal effects.

• Voided slabs contain trapped air, the best insulator, at no additional cost.

*according to a study done by the German Fraunhofer Institute

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To learn more about this innovative structural solution, contact:

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