Renovation process challenges and barriers: Addressing the communication and coordination bottlenecks in the zero-energy building renovation workflow in European residential buildings

The implementation of Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (NZEB) renovation packages in Europe needs to be accelerated to meet the current decarbonization goals. To achieve this level of performance, building renovation strategies should shift towards solutions that incorporate a multitude of passive and active components, increasing the complexity...

Multi-material additive manufacturing in architecture and construction: A review

Multi-Material Additive Manufacturing (MMAM) is an emerging manufacturing approach that is gaining interest in architecture and construction as an expansion of Additive Manufacturing. Hereby, different materials or material properties are combined in a single additive process in order to create objects that are composed of multiple materials....

Multi-objective optimization of building-integrated microalgae photobioreactors for energy and daylighting performance

As a state-of-the-art green façade technology, building-integrated microalgae bioreactor has the potential to reduce buildings’ carbon footprint and energy consumption. The present study aims to address the knowledge gap in the energy and daylighting performance of algae photobioreactor façade. The paper first studies the effects of algae...

Archetypical CBMs in Construction and a Translation to Industrialized Manufacture

The circular economy is a widely accepted concept that various governments have started to adopt. Still, a major consumer of resources, the construction industry, struggles to implement business models that answer to the opportunity and generate value beyond economical. At the same time, the industry is at a threshold of intensifying their...

“Desigrated”-Desiccant Integrated Façade for the Hot-Humid Climate of Bangkok, Thailand

“Desigrated” presented an attempt to integrate heat prevention strategies with low-ex cooling technologies, namely the desiccant and M-cycle evaporative cooling technology, in the form of a façade system for high-rise office buildings. The project targets to provide an alternative cooling solution for the hot and humid climate context of Bangkok...

Assessment of Current Energy Consumption in Residential Buildings in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), residential buildings' energy consumption accounts for almost 50% of the building stock electricity consumption. The KSA's economy relies heavily on fossil fuel sources, namely oil reservoirs, whose depletion will negatively affect the future development of the country. The total electricity consumption is...

Feasibility Study of Self-Sufficient Solar Cooling Façade Applications in Different Warm Regions

Small-scale systems and integrated concepts are currently being explored to promote the widespread application of solar cooling technologies in buildings. This article seeks to expand application possibilities by exploring the feasibility of solar cooling integrated façades, as decentralized self-sufficient cooling modules on different warm...

Environmental Design Principles for the Building Envelope and More _: Passive and Active Measures

Given the need to reduce building sector related energy consumption and greenhouse gases (GHG), passive and sustainable buildings are a focal point. Simple methods and techniques, which use appropriate building design, material and systems selection, and reflect consideration of the local environmental elements, such as air and sun, provide...

25 Years of cooling research in office buildings: Review for the integration of cooling strategies into the building façade (1990–2014)

This paper seeks to present a panorama of cooling related research in office buildings, categorising reported research experiences from the past 25 years in order to identify knowledge gaps and define current paths and trends for further exploration. The general goal behind this research is to support the design of sustainable office...

Main perceived barriers for the development of building service integrated facades: Results from an exploratory expert survey

The integration of decentralised building services into façade components presents advantages from functional and constructional standpoints. However, this integrated approach has not been massively implemented, having only stand-alone buildings and façade concepts as examples. This paper seeks to identify the main perceived problems at...