INTELLIGENT BUILDING FACADES - IAEME Publication, … · ... Greater Noida, India. ... Recent...

http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.

International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET)Volume 8, Issue 5, May 2017, pp.

Available online at http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/issues.

ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976

© IAEME Publication

INTELLIGENT BUILDING FACADES

Assistant Professor, Sharda U

ABSTRACT

A responsive building envelops

between the building, the inhabitant and the environment in a meaningful way. One of

the primary performance mandates for high

optimization and reduction in the use

Key words: Intelligent facades, Thermally reactive, Operational membranes,

Biomimetics, Double facades

Cite this Article: Ar. Richa Malik Intelli

of Civil Engineering and Technology

http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/issues.asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=8&IType=5

1. INTRODUCTION

Building facades architecture

moderators in the sense they connect the inside and outside environments. The passage of air,

solar radiation, sound, and moisture through the façade affect air quality, temperature,

humidity, and sound levels, and hence influence our sense of well being.

Beyond this there are very subtle impacts that affect our mood, such as the view and our

sense of time. So the materials that compose the façade are vitally important, and the way it is

punctuated with windows all contribute as to whether the built environment is fresh, airy, and

has lots of daylight. Lessons can be learnt from vernacular architecture and also from

This, blended with a judicious use of emerging technologies, can offer facade

sustainable in terms of energy consumption but also give pleasure and are healthy for the

occupants.

New technologies, smart materials and distributed systems have spurred the introduction

of biological models for understanding the behavior and

controls. A descriptive lexicon has emerged that employs decidedly biological terminology in

conceptualizing architectural design

as a complex membrane capable

designed to operate, as part of a holistic building metabolism and morphology, and will often

be connected to other parts of the building, including sensors, actuators and command wires

from the building management system.

IJCIET/index.asp 1340 [email protected]

International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET) 2017, pp. 1340–1346, Article ID: IJCIET_08_05_143


6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316

Scopus Indexed


Ar. Richa Malik

Assistant Professor, Sharda University, Greater Noida, India.

A responsive building envelops are one that facilitates co-evolutionary interaction


the primary performance mandates for high-performance envelopes has been energy

optimization and reduction in the use of resources and their inhabitants.

Intelligent facades, Thermally reactive, Operational membranes,

Biomimetics, Double facades.

Ar. Richa Malik Intelligent Building Facades. International Journal

of Civil Engineering and Technology, 8(5), 2017, pp. 1340–1346.


Building facades architecture put their impact far deeper than this. They are climatic



ound levels, and hence influence our sense of well being.



with windows all contribute as to whether the built environment is fresh, airy, and

has lots of daylight. Lessons can be learnt from vernacular architecture and also from

, blended with a judicious use of emerging technologies, can offer facade


ew technologies, smart materials and distributed systems have spurred the introduction

of biological models for understanding the behavior and design of building systems and their


conceptualizing architectural design the building’s envelope can be considered quite literally

as a complex membrane capable of energy, material and information exchanges.

as part of a holistic building metabolism and morphology, and will often


ding management system.

[email protected]

asp?JType=IJCIET&VType=8&IType=5


niversity, Greater Noida, India.

evolutionary interaction


performance envelopes has been energy

of resources and their inhabitants.

Intelligent facades, Thermally reactive, Operational membranes,

International Journal


put their impact far deeper than this. They are climatic





with windows all contribute as to whether the built environment is fresh, airy, and

has lots of daylight. Lessons can be learnt from vernacular architecture and also from Nature.

, blended with a judicious use of emerging technologies, can offer facades which are


ew technologies, smart materials and distributed systems have spurred the introduction

design of building systems and their


the building’s envelope can be considered quite literally

of energy, material and information exchanges. It can be

as part of a holistic building metabolism and morphology, and will often


Intelligent Building Facades

http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.asp 1341 [email protected]

2. DOUBLE SKIN FACADES

The double-skin facade is a system of building consisting of two skins, or facades, placed in

such a way that air flows in the intermediate cavity. The ventilation of the cavity can be

natural, fan supported or mechanical. Apart from the type of the ventilation inside the cavity,

the origin and destination of the air can differ depending mostly on climatic conditions, the

use, the location, the occupational hours of the building and the HVAC strategy.

Figure 1 Double skin facade

The glass skins can be single or double glazing units with a distance from 20 cm up to 2

metres. Often, for protection and heat extraction reasons during the cooling period, solar

shading devices are placed inside the cavity.

The cavity between the two skins may be either naturally or mechanically ventilated. In

cool climates the solar gain within the cavity may be circulated to the occupied space to offset

heating requirements, while in hot climates the cavity may be vented out of the building to

mitigate solar gain and decrease the cooling load. In each case the assumption is that a higher

insulative value may be achieved by using this glazing configuration over a conventional

glazing configuration.

Recent studies showed that the energy performance of a building connected to a double-

skin facade can be improved both in the cold and the warm season or in cold and warm

climates by optimizing the ventilation strategy of the facade.

http://www.iaeme.com/IJCIET/index.

Figure 2 Performance

Our double-skin façade is key to the sustainability

rating for 1 Bligh Street, Sydney

permits the use of very clear glass

3. OPERATIONAL MEMBRANE

Facades membranes are the continuous covering on building envelope.

express, communicate and interact with its

for transparent and open-joint facades

represents the perfect choice for creative ventilated façades behind transparent and open

cladding materials. The wide colour range available gives architects freedom of expression,

as amazing colour effects and combinations can be designed.

Figure

Open to water vapour diffusion, rainproof and wind tight, facades membranes offers an

excellent thermal protection.

cladding materials light, efficient and easy to install, they have a unique qualities for all kind

of non-transparent, ventilated façades

Ar. Richa Malik

IJCIET/index.asp 1342 [email protected]

Performance of Double skin facade in all seasons

skin façade is key to the sustainability credentials that earned a six Green Star

1 Bligh Street, Sydney. The double skin provides great solar control but also

permits the use of very clear glass – making the most of Sydney Harbour views.

OPERATIONAL MEMBRANES

Facades membranes are the continuous covering on building envelope. It allows a building to

express, communicate and interact with its environment. Weatherproof breather membrane

joint facades .Membranes are permanently resistant to U.V.rays. I

represents the perfect choice for creative ventilated façades behind transparent and open

wide colour range available gives architects freedom of expression,

as amazing colour effects and combinations can be designed.

Figure 3 Synthetic membrane on the envelope

pen to water vapour diffusion, rainproof and wind tight, facades membranes offers an

It is suitable for installation behind closed or slightly open


transparent, ventilated façades.

[email protected]

credentials that earned a six Green Star

. The double skin provides great solar control but also

ey Harbour views.

t allows a building to

Weatherproof breather membrane

permanently resistant to U.V.rays. It

represents the perfect choice for creative ventilated façades behind transparent and open-joint

wide colour range available gives architects freedom of expression,

pen to water vapour diffusion, rainproof and wind tight, facades membranes offers an

ble for installation behind closed or slightly open




We’ve seen high-rise skins that adapt to the environment at the press of a button and

others that manage indoor climates by magically breathing in and out The more muscle you

put into a structure — and the less you require of people — the better off for the environment.

4. INTELLIGENT FACADES

Intelligent facade has only been around for a few short decades, helped along by recent

advances in chemical and material science. And over the past three years, we've seen the

category boom. Smart surfaces and materials can play a significant role in intelligent,

adaptive and responsive envelopes because of these intrinsic properties. Examples of smart

materials used in high-performance building skins include: aerogel – the synthetic low-

density translucent material used in window glazing, phase changing materials micro-

encapsulated wax, salt hydrates, thermo chromic polymer films, and building integrated

photovoltaic. One of the most significant characteristics of smart materials is that they have

the ability to transform their physical properties and/or shape, or to exchange energy without

requiring an external source of power. Hence, they are extremely attractive to building

designers who aim to increase functionality and performance while at the same time reducing

energy use.

Below, check out some of the most interesting building facades to come across in recent

years: From a thermal metal screen that curls up when it's hot, to a titanium dioxide-covered

wall that scrubs the air of pollutants

4.1. An Energy-Producing Algae Facade

This 2,150-square-foot wall, unveiled in Germany this spring, is the result of three years of

testing by a group of designers from Splitterwerk Architects and Arup. Its vibrant

characteristic isn't just an aesthetic flourish—in fact, it's tinted by millions of microscopic

algae plants, which are being fed nutrients and oxygen to spur biomass production. Facilitated

by direct sunlight, the speedily-growing little cells end up heating the water, and that heat is

harvested by the system and stored for use in the building.

Figure 4 Algae sandwich in the window envelope

4.2. A Light-Responsive Facade That “Breathes”

This pair of Abu Dhabi towers are sheathed in a thin skin of glass—fashionable, but not ideal

for the desert climate. So the architects at Aedas designed a special, secondary sun screen that

deflects some of the glare without permanently blocking the views. At night they all fold, so

they all close, so you’ll see more of the facade. It's using an old technique in a modern way,

which also responds to the aspiration of the emirate to take a leadership role in the area of

sustainability.

Ar. Richa Malik


Figure 5 ALBAHAR Tower responsive facade

4.3. A Facade That Eats Smog

Back in 2011, the chemical company Alcoa unveiled a remarkable technology that could

clean the air around it. The material contained titanium dioxide, which effectively "scrubbed"

the air of toxins by releasing spongy free radicals that could eliminate pollutants. The stuff

has made appearances on streets, clothing, and architecture since then—most recently, on the

sun screen of a new Mexico City hospital. The hospital is cloaked in a 300-foot-long skin

of Prosolve tiles. The technology is based on the same process: As air filters around the

sponge-shaped structures, UV-light-activated free radicals destroy any existing pollutants,

leaving the air cleaner for the patients inside. Even the shape of the sun screen is significant:

It creates turbulence and slows down air flow around the building, while scattering the UV

light needed to activate the chemical reaction.

Figure 6 Innovative building designs use smog-eating technology to improve air quality.

4.4. A Low-Tech, Operable Skin

In Melbourne, Sean Godsell Architects sheathed RMIT's design school in thousands of small,

sandblasted glass circles—each affixed to a central rod. Based on humidity and temperature

inside the building, these rods pivot automatically to facilitate (or block) the flow of air

through the facade.



Figure 7 Façade with a unique external skin that incorporates glazing disks | materials / building

component .

4.5. A Metal Mesh That Reacts to Heat

Bloom, a temporary installation by USC architecture professor Doris Kim Sung, isn't

technically a facade. Snug's research deals with biomimetics, or how architecture can mimic

the human body. This sun shade was made with thermo bimetal—a material that's actually a

laminate of two different metals, each with its Own thermal expansion coefficient.

That means that each side reacts differently to sunlight, expanding and contracting at

different rates—causing tension between the two surfaces, and ultimately, a curling effect.

So when the surface gets hot, the thin panels on the shade curl up to allow more air to pass

through to the space below—and when it cools down, it closes up again.

Figure 8 Smart Building Skins That Breathe, Farm Energy, and Gobble Up Toxins A Metal Mesh

That Reacts to Heat Bloom, a temporary installation by USC architecture .

5. CONCLUSION

A responsive building envelops are one that facilitates co-evolutionary interaction between

the building, the inhabitant and the environment in a meaningful way. One of the primary

performance mandates for high-performance envelopes has been energy optimization and

reduction in the use of resources and their inhabitants.

Within the rush of various technologies into the field of architecture new aspects has

emerged into the idea of building façade and how it respond to the environment where more

complicated design approaches and technologies have been introduced to the building facades

using new high-performance glazing, improved shading and solar control systems, and

greater use of automate controls. These technologies are known as interactive facades which

should respond intelligently and reliably to the changing outdoor conditions and internal

performance needs where it will exploit available natural energies for lighting, heating and

Ar. Richa Malik


ventilation and be able to provide energy savings compared to conventional technologies, and

at the same time maintain optimal thermal comfort conditions. As photovoltaic costs may

decrease in the future, these onsite power systems will be integrated within the glass skin and

these facades will become local, non-polluting energy suppliers to the building.

With this in mind, the future design of high-performance buildings is expected to involve

active façade technologies, acting in intelligent collaboration with HVAC and lighting

systems to produce comfortable indoor environments with reduced energy consumption.

REFERENCES

[1] http://csfs.bue.edu.

[2] https://intelligent+facades.

[3] https://www. responsive envelope.

[4] https://www.google.co.in.

[5] https://www. facades membranes.

[6] Intelligent Buildings International Journal Impact & Description.

[7] İlker Erkan and Hasan Ş. Haştemoğlu. Analyse of Building Facades with Fractal Method:

Railway Station Buildings. International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology,

6(9), 2015, pp. 175-188.

[8] Responsive Building Envelopes: Characteristics and Evolving Paradigms, By: kathy

velikov and geoffrey thün.

INTELLIGENT BUILDING FACADES - IAEME Publication, … · ... Greater Noida, India. ... Recent...

Documents

Transcript of INTELLIGENT BUILDING FACADES - IAEME Publication, … · ... Greater Noida, India. ... Recent...