Textile Membrane for Façade Retrofitting: Exploring Fabric Potentialities for the Development of Innovative Strategies

The European building stock demands urgent renovation due to the age of the buildings, their expected lifetime, and their excessive energy consumption, which accounts for more than a third of the EU’s total emissions. However, the complexities involved, such as time, costs, and structural modifications, often discourage clients, tenants, and...

Solar Cooling Integrated Façades: Towards investigating product applicability

The application of façade products integrating solar cooling technologies tends to be one of the promising options to be considered for challenges related to the increase in global demand for cooling in the built environment. Accordingly, the technological innovation of such products represent an essential task to be taken into account for...

Evaluating Savings Potentials Using Energy Retrofitting Measures for a Residential Building in Jeddah, KSA

Residential buildings in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) contribute to nearly half of the overall electricity consumption in the building stock, highlighting their significant role in energy consumption. While an upgraded energy code has been established and enforced for new buildings, existing buildings continue to operate at the same level...

Solar Cooling Integrated Façades: Main Challenges in Product Development for Widespread Application

The global attention to solar cooling systems has increased during the last years as a result of the expected growth in the world cooling demand. Such systems encompass the use of renewable energy as the main driver for mitigating indoor temperatures. Currently, some of these technologies are mature enough for their commercial application in...

Editorial

Origin and Development of Environmental Design

Buildings are characterised as some of the greatest consumers and pollutants of the planet. However, the genesis of environmental design, in the context of its modern meaning, as shown in this paper, is not so much based on initial requests to reduce the negative pressure on the environment, but more on the tendency to ensure the continuity of...

Developing an integrated 3D-printed façade with complex geometries for active temperature control

Additive manufacturing (AM) technology is currently being investigated as possible construction method for future buildings. AM methods have advantages over other production processes, such as great freedom of form, shape complexity, scale and material use. Because the freedom in geometric complexity applies also to the inner part of the...

Development and prototyping of an integrated 3D-printed façade for thermal regulation in complex geometries

Currently, several research projects investigate Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology as possible construction method for future buildings. AM methods have some advantages over other production processes, such as great freedom of form, shape complexity, scale and material use. These characteristics are relevant for façade applications, which...

An Integrated Refurbishment Design Process to Energy Efficiency

Given the very low renewal rate of the building stock, the efforts to reduce energy demand must focus on the existing residential buildings. Even though awareness has been raised, the effect on energy efficiency is often neglected during the design phase of refurbishment projects. This paper discusses an integrated approach to energy-efficiency...

Refurbishment of Residential Buildings: A Design Approach to Energy-Efficiency Upgrades

Refurbishing the existing building stock is an acknowledged issue in the building industry. Even though awareness has been raised, the design phase of refurbishment projects is often problematic. The decisions taken in the early stages of the design determine the final result; however, the assessment of the environmental performance only happens...