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Kloster Lehnin - Barracks, DE

Former barracks in the municipality of Kloster Lehnin in Mark Brandenburg provides accommodation for around 2,000 seasonal workers ready for asparagus season.

While many other municipalities and cities are having problems finding new uses for the sites of former barracks, in Kloster Lehnin in the German federal state of Brandenburg a remarkable project was realised: the Beelitz asparagus farm had the former National People's Army barracks converted into comfortable accommodation for around 2,000 seasonal workers who arrive for work on the asparagus harvest.
 


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Döschwitz, Germany. The wooded municipality of Kloster Lehnin with its many lakes lies at the heart of the Mark Brandenburg region. Its principal landmark, which also gave the municipality its name, is the monastery (“Kloster”), which was founded in 1180 and is the oldest Cistercian monastery in Mark Brandenburg.

Every year between April and June the local population of over 11,000 expands by up to 2,000 seasonal workers for the asparagus season in Germany's third-largest asparagus-growing area. These essential field workers harvest this popular and healthy vegetable on the Beelitz asparagus farm's cultivation beds.

To make it possible to offer these seasonal workers a comfortable “temporary home”, a project was completed over a total of four construction phases, to convert and develop the former National People's Army barracks, situated on the outskirts of Kloster Lehnin. All the rooms, kitchens and garages were readied for occupancy and have been in successful operation for a number of years.
 

Energy-efficient heat distribution

A unique aspect of this project is the heating plant belonging to the site that supplies heat to residences. To ensure that energy loss is minimised during the transportation of heat and the system provides reliable long-term maintenance-free service, the actual pipe system used is extremely important.

The Beelitz asparagus farm needed an experienced partner in the development, manufacture and planning of pipe systems for heating networks.

The decision was made to use the pre-insulated, flexible Flexalen™ plastic pipe system from Thermaflex, due to the many advantages it offered including: corrosion-free, pressure and high temperature-resistant along with a proven long-term service life of many decades. In addition, the ability to weld and prefabricate the complicated T-pieces in a controlled factory environment gave Thermaflex a clear advantage over other suppliers.

With a short lead-time around one and a half kilometres of pre-insulated Flexalen pre-fabricated pipe assemblies were laid in the form of single or double pipes with comparatively few connectors. The comprehensive range of dimensions, pre-insulated moulded parts and sophisticated accessories made rapid installation possible.

For this project and many others in Europe and around the world, Thermaflex, a leader in insulated piping systems for district energy and heated liquid transport, is making a significant contribution to increasing energy savings.
 

Thermaflex sets standards

Thermaflex's innovative pipe-insulation products have been tried and tested around the world for over 40 years. The development of CFC-free foams as far back as 1990 marked a milestone in their manufacturing, long before European legislation banned such propellant gases.

For further information on the company's extensive product range, please visit:

Thermaflex link

Flexalen link

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Polybutene-1 is often referred to as Polybutene, Polybutylene, PB-1 or PB.

Polybutene-1 is not sold by PBPSA members for use in pipe applications intended for use in North America, and those parties require their customers or distributors not to sell products made from PB-1 into pipe applications for North America.

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