A suitable, pluggable solution for every construction method

The housing shortage, the growing shortage of construction workers and installers as well as the lagging productivity growth require creativity and a new way of building. Anno 2022, homes are increasingly produced industrially, in the factory, under the best climate and working conditions and from repeatable and flexible building systems that respond to the individuality of residents and clients for each project. This will allow not only faster, but also more efficient, safer and cheaper construction. The installation industry can go along with this, by installing smart and pluggable systems. "Marcel Visser, Prefab (Pluggable) Expert at WAGO, who offers numerous solutions, agrees. Regardless of whether the systems are to be integrated in dry construction or (precast) concrete construction.

Pluggable installation is the solution for repetitive installations in conceptual housing projects. Especially when choosing WAGO WINSTA^®, Visser believes. "The pluggable solutions from WAGO WINSTA^® make installation more efficient and provide substantial savings during the design and installation process. By providing cables and electrical switchgear with plugs, connection errors are prevented and the work can be done more safely. By carrying out the installation from the distribution board to the switchgear completely pluggable, projects can also be 60-80% installed more quickly. After completion, 100% pluggable systems are maintenance-free. In addition, pluggable installations 100% are detachable, thus contributing to sustainable and circular construction."

Solutions for hollow walls and suspended ceilings

Most obvious when it comes to pluggable installation is the use of hollow walls and suspended ceilings. "This construction method is often referred to as 'dry construction' and, within housing construction, is mostly focused on transformation and renovation projects," Visser said. "Consider, for example, the transformation of office buildings into housing and/or the renovation of housing association housing in large cities, for which our 100% winstalleren concept is ideally suited." 100% winstalleren is a pluggable installation system based on Attema's pre-wired central or cable boxes, combined with prefabricated switchgear and pluggable group boxes, he says. "These components are connected with flexible WAGO cables with compact RD connectors. A proven and plug and play concept, without limitations, which guarantees a time reduction of 70% as well as a maintenance-free installation."

(Precast) concrete solutions

That pluggable installation in concrete is also possible, WAGO proves with a wide range of products that seamlessly connect to the products of leading manufacturers of (formwork) boxes. "Precast concrete solutions are unthinkable in today's construction," Visser said. "Even when separate ceiling and wall modules come together on construction, pluggable installation can save a tremendous amount of time in the installation process. Together with our partners, we are working on suitable (total) solutions for this. Consider, for example, the concrete junction boxes from Attema and ABB, into which our components fit seamlessly. The cables are pushed into a flexible sheath beforehand by an assembler. This creates a kind of "spider" that can be cast into the concrete at the factory without risk. The connectors and open ends of the cables are protected by the junction box, which creates an infrastructure in the concrete, so to speak. Thanks to this solution, installers can also experience the advantages of pluggable installation in precast concrete construction."

Combined (hybrid) solutions

Projects are not exclusively concrete or dry construction; a combination of both also occurs. For those situations, WAGO has linked solutions from both construction principles for maximum benefit. "Through the WAGO pipe adapter, it is literally possible to connect a conventional installation with flexible pipes to the WAGO WINSTA^®-system," Visser said. "Consider, for example, (high-rise) projects in which the walls and floors are still traditionally constructed in concrete, but the interior walls are constructed as 'hollow walls.' But also renovation and transformation projects, in which existing conventional installations can be cleverly linked to the latest pluggable technologies."

Modular solutions

Even when projects call for modular solutions, such as pre-assembled bathrooms, kitchens or bed backsplashes, WAGO's solutions allow for fast, efficient and maintenance-free installation. "For modular construction, we have developed the WAGO Box, which allows complete installations to be reduced to a single installation point," Visser said. "Here, the WAGO Box forms the heart (distribution point) of the modular solution and is assembled customer-specifically. This allows even more complex installations to be installed plug and play."

Wide range, quality products

"WAGO's strength is that we have a very wide range, with quality products for pluggable installation," Visser summarizes. "This allows us to offer a suitable, pluggable (total) solution for every question and every construction method."