Customer Application - Electrical Installations in Prefabricated Homes

Customer application 24 July 2019

Prefabricated Housing Electrical Installations: HUF HAUS Has a Holistic Concept of Quality

Speed and quality do not have to exclusives – even in housing construction. The renowned prefabricated, half-timbered housing manufacturer, HUF HAUS, proves this, down to the smallest detail.

“But those are not prefabricated houses,” states the young woman incredulously to her companion as they watch a robotic mower complete its last swath across the soft green lawn. The couple is walking past numerous sample homes in the HUF village among the hills of Hartenfels. HUF HAUS, a family-owned company entering its third generation, manufactures prefabricated, half-timbered buildings, at its company location in Hartenfels, which include numerous smart home applications designed for the European market. The modern architectural gems, with their transparent wood-glass visual appeal, are also found in China, Russia, and the USA. The characteristic HUF houses stand completely outside of the commonly accepted opinion that prefabricated houses are rather underwhelming in their design.

Individuality with an Affirmation

“Every HUF house is a one-off and includes our pledge of longevity, sustainability, and brand name quality,” summarizes Christoph Schmidt, a member of the HUF HAUS executive board. With this, he means not only that which is obvious at first glance, but also everything that is more subtle and easier to overlook, like sensible and safe electrical installations in the power distribution boards.

Located in the same region, jb electro has been a long-term, reliable partner with the half-timbered house manufacturer for more than 15 years. The CEO of jb electro, Jörg Barg, relies on quality brands in their materials. This is proven by their , an award that was presented in 2018 as the electronics business with the most excellent quality and branding work.

Time Savings and Flexibility also Apply in the Power Distribution Board

If it is included in the primary circuit distributors, then Jörg Barg relies on WAGO multilevel installation terminal blocks with neutral conductor isolation for two primary reasons: time savings and flexibility. “Thanks to the rail-mount terminal blocks, we save enormous amounts of time on site. We always do the wiring ahead of time in house, instead of on site,” explains the master electrician, who also acts as a publicly appointed and sworn expert.

An additional advantage: His 20 member team can check whether everything is correctly wired in house on the workbench. “There are no nasty surprises on site, like incorrect wiring or missing material,” says Barg. This is also the reason why he and his employees work with WAGO products in conventional home construction.

Sustainability Means More than Satisfying Standards

The N-isolating device is currently only obligatory in public buildings, workplaces, or buildings where people gather, for example, restaurants, shopping malls, train stations, airports, parking structures, apartment buildings, theaters and stadiums, according to . In those places, the isolation resistance is to be recurrently measured, and at conductor cross-sections under 10 mm2, the measurement must be possible without disconnecting the conductors. An N isolating device is also mandatory for N conductors if the workplace has an increased fire risk, according to VDS Guideline 2033.

HUF HAUS is primarily active in the private, single family home market. So why include these electrical installations, which are optional and are certainly more expensive due to material costs alone? “In our day-to-day business, time is our most important cost factor. Everything that we can do, that ensures maintenance-free quality and faster and easier handling, improves that result,” adds Barg. For the customer, this is an investment in greater safety and also in sustainability.

This is because the standards requiring N isolation and recurring isolation resistance measurement without disconnecting the conductors may also someday be expanded to private residential construction. “Ultimately, standards are very seldom eased or reduced; the opposite usually occurs, and at that point replacing the connection technology or the entire power distribution board will surely be expensive for our customers.”

The Smart Home Begins with Proactive Electrical Installations

In addition, HUF HAUS is developing their construction in the direction of the Smart Home. In May, 2018, the company, together with IBM, introduced an artificial intelligence , which is supposed to learn the behavior of its inhabitants in order to be able to configure their daily lives to be as comfortable, relaxed, and safe as possible. This is also an argument that Barg employs, because his company, jb electro, is also working on building automation: “The smarter the house becomes, the more complicated the electrical installations, and these must potentially be updatable. By using rail-mount terminal blocks with N-isolation, we can already make provisions for the future for our current customers.”

Thinking Holistically about Quality

The fact that HAUS leaves nothing to chance, even in the electrical installations, speaks volumes about the company's approach to quality Therefore, HUF Corporate Groupoffers their customers corresponding products and services, from financing through interior design up to landscaping. “We think holistically about quality. If we did not do that, then at some point, our customers would become unintentional quality inspectors – and we can prevent that,” Technical CEO Christoph Schmidt comes straight to the point. The customers from HUF HAUS can therefore be certain, that the company builds with quality.

WAGO Contacts:

Torsten Weichel, Regional Contact for Building Technology at WAGO in the Rheinland Palatinate and Saarland

Andreas Brettschneider, Connection Technology Product Manager at WAGO