COOLFACADE: State-of-the-art review and evaluation of solar cooling technologies on their potential for facade integration

Increasing cooling demands in the built environment call for innovative technical solutions and systems for application in buildings. Cooling loads represent an important share of the total energy consumption in warm climates, especially in commercial and office buildings. Moreover, mechanical systems will still be needed in most cases to cope...

Coolfacade: Architectural Integration of Solar Cooling Technologies in the Building Envelope

Increasing cooling demands in the built environment present an important and complex challenge for the design of sustainable buildings and cities. Even though the first course of action should always aim to reduce energy consumption through saving measures and passive design; these are often not enough to avoid mechanical equipment altogether,...

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...

Possibilities and Constraints for the Widespread Application of Solar Cooling Integrated Façades

Cooling demands in buildings have drastically increased in recent decades and this trend is set to continue into the near future, due to increasing standards of living and global climate change, among the most relevant factors. Besides energy consumption, the use of refrigerants in common vapour compression cooling technologies is a source of...

Solar façades: Main barriers for widespread façade integration of solar technologies

Solar façades: Main barriers for widespread façade integration of solar technologies

Solar energy has been actively promoted as a clean energy source since 1973’s oil crisis, evidenced by the emergence of initiatives such as the Solar Heating & Cooling Programme of the International Energy Agency or the US Department of Energy. Nonetheless, solar technologies have not been widely used in the built environment, limiting their...

Solar coolfacades: Framework for the integration of solar cooling technologies in the building envelope

Solar cooling systems have gained increased attention these last years, for its potential to lower indoor temperatures using renewable energy. However, architectural integration of these systems in buildings has not been fully explored. Current developments such as small scale solar driven heat pumps and solar cooling kits commercially available...

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...