The global demand for cooling in the built environment is expected to increase in the near future due to factors such as climate change and rising temperatures. Solar cooling technologies offer a promising option to address the environmental challenges associated with the growing demand for space cooling. These technologies are based on producing conditioned air or chilled water using solar energy.

Building façades have significant potential for integrating solar cooling technologies and are increasingly evolving into multifunctional components that actively contribute to building energy systems. Through the integration of energy-related services, façades can support energy savings while enhancing occupant comfort. Despite this potential, the widespread application of solar cooling integrated façades remains limited. This is largely due to various technical, economic, and process-related challenges that hinder broader adoption. Providing clear guidance to relevant stakeholders to assess current levels of technology adoption and address existing challenges can play a key role in enabling successful implementation. Accordingly, the main research question of this dissertation is as follows:

How can the design and development of solar cooling integrated façades be guided to support their widespread application?

The research project aimed to provide a product design and development framework for solar cooling integrated façades to support their widespread application. Developing such a framework required several steps, including identifying key challenges and critical aspects to be considered; determining enabling factors and future application prospects; developing strategies to guide façade design and evaluation; and identifying, outlining, and validating key decisions, required information, and involved stakeholders.

This dissertation investigates how interaction strategies shape occupant responses to automated façades in office buildings, contributing to reducing the gap between predicted and actual performance. Automated façades, such as roller shades, venetian blinds, and switchable glazing, offer potential to reduce energy demand and improve indoor environmental quality. However, their effectiveness is often undermined by misalignment between automated control logic and occupant comfort requirements, leading to dissatisfaction and frequent manual overrides.
Using a mixed-methods approach, the research combines systematic literature reviews, controlled laboratory experiments, and large-scale surveys. The findings show that while automated façades can substantially reduce lighting energy use, their overall performance depends strongly on occupant interaction. Five key factors influence acceptance: personal preferences, environmental conditions, context, façade technology, and control logic. In particular, interaction design, such as how quickly and in what way façade systems adjust, control usability, and information availability, plays a critical role in shaping satisfaction and behavior.
Experimental results demonstrate that disruptive automation increases override actions, whereas systems that are understandable, predictable, and easy to control foster trust and acceptance. Survey data further show that occupants prefer differentiated levels of automation depending on context, building service, and time of day, with a general tendency toward “mixed-control” strategies.
The dissertation frames an “interaction gap,” arguing that energy efficiency and occupant comfort depend on occupant-centered design. It concludes that effective façade strategies must integrate clear communication, low-effort override options, and context-sensitive control.

The thesis, titled ‘Towards the Integration of Additive Manufacturing for Freeform Steel and Glass Façade Construction,’ explores the transformative role of additive manufacturing (AM) in enhancing the design and construction of Freeform Steel and Glass Façades (FFSGF). These façades involve intricate components, necessitating collaborative efforts among designers, engineers, and fabricators to achieve complex façade geometries with good performance while ensuring efficiency in design, material usage, fabrication, and cost. Recent advancements in AM technology have made it a potentially viable and increasingly accessible fabrication strategy, particularly for mass-customized components such as those used in freeform construction. The research aims to answer the central question of how AM can effectively contribute to developing node solutions supporting Freeform Steel & Glass Façade (FFSGF) construction.The study systematically examines opportunities for improvement in existing solutions. Chapters 2 and 3 provide a critical overview of FFSGF construction typologies and explore the current landscape of AM in façade applications. Chapters 4 and 5 delve into the design and development of crucial components—structural nodes and gasket nodes—utilizing different AM technologies. Prototypes are manufactured and evaluated in comparison to existing solutions. Chapter 6 provides a case study of integrating AM product development into a larger construction project, emphasizing interdisciplinary collaboration. The thesis underlines the advantages of the systemization of AM node design throughout the design and fabrication of AM nodes. This research contributes to the evolving knowledge at the intersection of design, engineering, construction, and AM, aiming to provide a valuable resource for building industry professionals navigating the complexities of incorporating AM into the fabrication of freeform steel and glass façades.

This study investigates the feasibility of manufacturing wooden elements using Layer Object Manufacturing (LOM) technology to replace steel nodes in the built environment. LOM offers significant advantages in allowing the designer to dictate the grain direction of each layer of material and optimize the cutting process, potentially reducing the amount of waste material produced. However, the technique is still in its developmental phase, and there is a lack of information available regarding its performance when used with wood. The study identifies design parameters for constructing solid wooden connection elements using LOM, including object geometry, grain direction, and layer segmentation. Wooden pegs are suggested to create reliable connections between a wood-LOM produced node and a timber structure.

With a building industry that is responsible for a large amount of our carbon emissions, a rising population, and the over-extraction of resources, architects and engineers have the responsibility to use environmentally friendly products. Lignin and cellulose are the most abundant biopolymers on earth and produce a lot of waste by ending up burnt or in landfills. Thus, a great field of research is currently explored with cellulose and lignin waste as an alternative to petrochemical-based products. Coming from the pulping and paper industry, lignin waste could be implemented through the use of an additive manufacturing process to reduce or avoid the necessity to cut trees. Also, 3D printing elements with lignin and cellulose as feedstocks have not yet been explored. Thus, this master thesis aims to promote wood waste as an ecological contributor to the building industry through the use of an additive manufacturing process. This research will be driven by 3D printing a window frame as there is a lack of replacing or enhancing existing window frames. Moreover, large-scale 3D printing companies are faced with the problem that the interface between window frames and 3D printed walls does not perfectly fit within each other. As current fabrication processes to produce building elements are based on flat regular machinery and 3D printing technology is based on curved stacking layers, a perfect connection could only be implemented by 3D printing a window frame. Thus, after understanding the explored limits and possibilities of 3D printing with a wholly bio-based material coming from its waste in regard to mechanical and printability properties, a window frame will be designed and printed as a proof of concept. The final results have shown the potential of 3D print elements in a cold extrusion process with lignin and cellulose in combination with water and methylcellulose. However, more research is necessary to improve the material and printability properties of the recipe to become a fully reliable and integrated facade component to replace existing building components or improve the connection between window frames and habitats.

The building stock and the construction industry combined are responsible for a large share of greenhouse gases emissions. At the same time, every year tons of wood, paper and agricultural residues are wasted instead of recycled and upcycled into the production chain. In the fabrication field, the relevance of additive manufacturing processes is constantly growing, allowing for maximum customisation and optimisation of material and energy usage.
Lignocellulosic polymers are the most abundant in nature, although meanwhile cellulose is seen as a valuable raw material, lignin is treated as a by-product to be burned and generate energy. Based on the increasing use of both as fibre reinforcements and fillers in feedstocks for additive manufacturing, there is a potential to be explored.
The combination of the development of a novel material for an innovative fabrication process such as liquid deposition modelling, is the scope of work presented in this research.
Cellulose and lignin were studied, analysed and manipulated before mixing them with a vast selection of binding agents and additives. The outcome was evaluated according to a pre-established criteria set and documented, and a comparison drawn to define the best and most promising material mixes for additional investigation. From a universe of twelve mixes and numerous iterations for each recipe, four alternatives were picked for further characterisation and determination of their mechanical properties.
In parallel, the printability of the material considered as the most promising mix was explored through the extrusion of a sequence of simple geometries and shapes designed to understand and define the most adequate printing parameters. Limitations and challenges were observed and general directions and guidelines were documented.
With a complete dataset and overview of this novel bio-based and wood-based material for additive manufacturing, a simple structural node was designed. The fabrication of a prototype was used to further enhance the material properties and to clarify its potential and limitations for applications in the construction industry.
From the initial material exploration to the final prototyping phase, an extensive documentation was prepared to validate the potential and limitations of this novel material and indicate the directions for further research works.

Adaptive façades are designed to actively regulate the exchange of material and energy flows and thus improve the balance between comfort and energy consumption. However, their technical complexity leads to higher development efforts, maintenance and costs, and ultimately fewer implementations.
Embedded adaptive functions could be an opportunity to reduce these drawbacks. If embedded adaptivity is to work within a design, the particularities of geometry and material arrangements must be considered. Nature offers fascinating models for this approach, which frames the objectives of this doctoral dissertation. The dissertation examines both adaptive façades and biology criteria that support a function-oriented transfer of thermo-adaptive principles in the early design stage. The research work discusses whether the technical complexity can be reduced by biomimetic designs and which role geometric design strategies play for thermo-adaptive processes.

The research work is divided into three phases, following the top-down process in the discipline biomimetics, supplemented by methods from product design and semantic databases. The first phase is dedicated to the analysis of the contextual framework and criteria of façades aiming at thermal adaptation.
Further, transfer systematics are developed that guide the analysis and selection process. In the second phase, analogies in biology are collected that appear suitable. Selected examples are examined to identify and systematically describe their functional principle. Two exemplary descriptions herald the third phase, in which functional façade models are created and evaluated.

The result of this research work provides a conceptual approach to generate function-imitating biomimetic façade designs, so-called physio-mimetic façade designs.

Glass is transparent and that differentiates it from most other building materials. As a result it has played a significant role in the development of architecture, given that its use is not only driven by its functionality as a protective layer, but by its ability to transmit light and hence define spaces. The use of glass has typically brought designers, engineers and builders to the limits of their abilities, whether this was driven by the processing and handling of the material, or the limitation in the understanding of its design capacity. The transparency of the material is of incredible value but it also poses challenges when working with glass; The way it is connected is always visible. As a result, the connections and connectivity of glass are one of the most important considerations when designing with it, both technically and architecturally and in particular for structural applications. In the past century, glass has increasingly been used as a structural component. However its inherent brittleness typically still requires opaque metal connections to transfer load. These connections define contemporary glass architecture – firstly, because they are immediately apparent in a transparent structure and, secondly, as they are part of the engineering design language. However, designers and architects are still aiming to increase the transparency of glass enclosures and structures, leading to a demand to further reduce the visibility of structural connections within the glass. This research aims to address the connectivity of glass through experimental testing of heat bonded glass-glass connections that form a fully transparent atomic bond. Applications for transparent connections are addressed through case studies that explore various novel transparent bonding techniques.

The past few years has seen an increase in number of demolitions of office buildings due to the lack of adaptability based on rapid user change demands, in the Netherlands. Furthermore, the construction industry contributes towards 50% of the raw material consumption and is responsible for 40% of the total waste generation in the country. Leading to adopting circular design practices within the industry which is incentivized by the nationwide programme towards creating a 100% circular economy by 2050 with an intermediate goal to reduce the use of primary raw materials and by 50% until 2030. This has led to exploring flexible and adaptable design strategies in office buildings. In a building floor-systems cater to more than 50% of the total material usage, thereby contributing to the highest impact on the environment. But a floor-system in a building is not always a standalone component, it shares heavy interactions with services such as mechanical, electrical and plumbing installations. Services integration into the floor-system poses flexibility related challenges, as it often interacts with building products that are of varying have varying durability (life spans). An integrated floor-system approach is a multidisciplinary problem and one of the key challenges is flexibility. Furthermore, multi-disciplinary design decisions made in the early design stages create a huge impact on the flexibility, environment and material circularity aspects. Therefore, this research aims to address the complexity of this problem by developing a knowledge based decision support system driven by data and heuristic logic, that can support the decision-makers involved in the early design stages of an integrated floor-system design. The objective is for the system to demonstrate the impact of design decisions on circularity related indicators by sharing quick insights.

New technologies and automation concepts emerge in the digitalization of our environment. This is, for example, reflected by intelligent production systems in Industry 4.0. A core aspect of such systems is their cyber-physical implementation, which aims to increase productivity and flexibility through embedded computing capacities and the cooperation of decentrally networked production plants. This development stage of automation has not yet been achieved in the current state-of-the-art of façades. Being responsible for the execution of adaptive measures, façade automation is part of hierarchically and centrally organised Building Automation Systems (BAS). The research project ThinkingSkins is guided by the hypothesis that, aiming at an enhanced overall building performance, façades can be implemented as cyber-physical systems. Accordingly, it addresses the research question:

How can cyber-physical systems be applied to façades, in order to enable coordinated adaptations of networked individual façade functions?

The question is approached in four partial investigations. First, a comprehensive understanding of intelligent systems in both application fields, façades and Industry 4.0, is elaborated by a literature review. Subsequently, relevant façade functions are identified by a second literature review in a superposition matrix, which also incorporates characteristics for a detailed assessment of each function’s adaptive capacities. The third investigation focuses on existing conditions in building practice by means of a multiple case study analysis. Finally, the technical feasibility of façades implemented as cyber-physical systems is investigated by developing a prototype. The research project identifies the possibility and promising potential of cyberphysical façades. As result, the doctoral dissertation provides a conceptual framework for the implementation of such systems in building practice and for further research.

Passive measures to tackle increasing energy demands of modern buildings are aimed to generate energy from the roof or the ground beneath and by improving insulation to isolate indoors and outdoors. The author targets the opaque facade sections of a building to develop an active panel to exchange solar thermal energy with his project THERM_VENATION- Active Thermal Façade Venation. It is a project dealing with designing and fabrication of a twin-wall concrete façade panel with heat exchange tubular network embedded within it inspired by the leaf venation, which by actively exchanging fluid between the two panels conditions the indoor temperature, in the extreme composite climate of Delhi, India. This project follows a design through research methodology with computation tools, boundary conditions, material properties and the method of fabrication guiding the design and its result.

Problem definition and objective - Additive manufacturing has already been developed to use various sorts of plastics, metals, composites and concrete. Until now, the most used composite in building materials, natural wood, has not been used in an additive manufacturing process. The potential of using wood in
an additive manufacturing process lies in the complex shapes which could be made, the savings of materials, the wood properties which could be used in a more optimal way and the ease to reproduce an object with high accuracy without the costs of labor. This research will investigate if there are options to use wood in an additive manufacturing process such as 3d printing. The question to answer is; Can wood be used in an additive manufacturing
process? Study design - This research is based on a broad literature survey on the topics of wood, additive manufacturing and state of the art of 3d printing wood. This is followed by an exploration phase where various material mixes are made and tested in a qualitative way in order to get an understanding of the behaviour of the material. The materials are extruded with medical syringes and later on with a 3d printer to see how they behave in this process. Finally a design is made what shows the potential of this material in 3d printing. Focus - This study focusses on the use of the materials cellulose and lignin, which are combined in a 3d printable material. The process is based on the soluble character of lignin, and therefore does not work with a temperature gradient. The materials which are used are Skogcell 90Z bleached kraft WFBR and Indulin AT lignin, both retrieved from softwood in the kraft process and are fully biobased. This research describes a limited amount of material mixes, based on the input materials. Results - Theory about wood and its main components is translated into a production process which leads to a wood based 3d printable material. Material mixes with a content up to 20% of cellulose are tested and printed with a syringe. Materials containing up to 11 % of cellulose are printed with a 3d printer. The result, a wood based 3d printing material.

An exploration in the use of rapid manufacturing for the design and fabrication of free-form steel curtain wall systems. Focus on reconciliation of free-form geometry, system assembly, and digital workflow.

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, particularly in the case of office buildings in warm climate contexts. Solar cooling technologies have been increasingly explored as an environmentally friendly alternative to harmful refrigerants used in common air-conditioning systems; besides being driven by renewable energy. Nonetheless, building application remains mostly limited to demonstration projects and pilot experiences.
The thesis discusses the suitability of solar cooling technologies in terms of their potential for façade integration, exploring current possibilities and identifying main constraints for the development of solar cooling integrated architectural products. The potential for façade integration is assessed considering both the architectural requirements for the integration of building services in the façade development process; and the potential climate feasibility of self-sufficient integrated concepts, matching current technical possibilities with cooling requirements from several climates.
Although interesting prospects were identified in this dissertation, important technical constraints need to be solved to conceive fail-tested façade components. Furthermore, several barriers related to the façade design and development process need to be tackled in order to introduce architectural products such as these into the market. The identification and discussion of these barriers, along with the definition of technology driven development paths and recommendations for the generation of distinct architectural products, are regarded as the main outcomes of this dissertation, serving as a compass to guide further explorations in the topic under an overall environmentally conscious design approach.

For this thesis an additively manufactured(AM) glass connection was researched. The aim was to see if it was possible to use plastic based AM for end use parts in the façade. This was done in three parts, which are presented in this thesis. The first part consists of research in all currently available technology that could be used to create such a connection. The following section is about the design process of the AM connection and its engineering. The final part of the research further validates the design by means of structural tests and a rough price comparison to already existing glass connections.

The first part of this research focused on glass connections, additive manufacturing and topology optimization. This was primarily literature research that gave insight into which existing bases could be used to build on further in this project. The research showed that the spider profile has the most potential for further development and become a new sort of connection. The research also provided insight in the different AM technology’s that could make the new connection. That research was necessary to selected the final production method an used materials. In the final part of the literature study insight in topology optimization was obtained to design the connection with the help of topology optimization.

The findings from the first part of the research provided the basis for the design and engineering processes of this new AM glass connection. The connection was designed with the help of topology optimization. The idea behind the optimization was to reduce the stresses in the glass and to attach the connection to the glass without drilling. The result of the optimization was a connection that has the shape of a line and that would be bonded to the glass with Transparant Silicone Structural Adhesive better known as TSSA. This connection consists of a number of different elements. The first is a separate AM piece that would be laminated to the glass and could be inserted into the remainder of the joint that connects four corners of four different glass plates. The second element is adapted to allow for the free movement of the glass panels by locally removing material so it would be weaker in one direction. Alternatively, it is given a power joint, which is a rubber joint that allows for movement in all directions. This connection was calculated multiple times to see how the connection would perform.

In the final part of this thesis the joint itself was researched to further validate the connection. This was done by making a prototype of the connection to see how everything could work and if it was actually suitable for production. For this validation, process a number of tests were done on smaller specimens to show how strong the material is and to give validation to the calculations. Finally, a small study was done in to the market potential of custom glass connections like this one by making price comparisnos to currently existing spider profiles.

The topic of this graduation project is the design of an adaptive fabric façade for a high-rise in Paris. The stimulus for this choice was the turn of nowadays towards lightweight materials and constructions, a trend that is growing tremendously. Glass façades always remain popular and are frequently used in all kinds of buildings. For instance, a great quantity of glass is used in curtain walls. Therefore, following the need of research for lightweight materials, alternatives for glass are being investigated and membranes can be an interesting solution. They offer a number of possibilities and have many advantages, such as a variety of transparency levels and the fact that they are extremely lightweight materials. Furthermore, this graduation project concerns an office building, which is a rather demanding building type, as it requires a building envelope that offers a high level of indoor comfort, in terms of thermal and acoustical insulation, as well as efficient solar control. Thus, taking all the above into account and the global growing interest towards membranes, which are mostly used as roof components until now, the decision of exploring the potential of such materials as the main part of a building envelope for an open-plan office building in Paris was taken.

The graduation research has an experimental character, as it tackles several issues of a possible membrane façade element and it tries to answer the questions that are being raised throughout of the development of this thesis. Firstly, a literature research is conducted on the available materials, their physical and mechanical properties, their production and connection methods, their advantages and drawbacks in general. Subsequently, design aspects are taken into consideration concerning the building envelope and physical models are constructed in order to visualise the design. Furthermore, hand calculations are conducted for the thermal and acoustical performance of the under study membrane façade element and then software simulations are made in order to validate the results. Moreover, an actual acoustical test is attempted with several difficulties, though, that will be described later on. Finally, conclusions are drawn concerning the whole research and design. As it is evident in the end, although the proposed solution is proved to be rather successful, there is still space for improvement, as well as further research and development.

Humans are going to Mars and the plan is to achieve this within the next couple of decades. In mission architectures the habitat is considered a sub-system in the overall mission’s system architecture. In current mission engineering, the crew’s psychology is barely considered in the design of the mission. In aerospace engineering, one refers to Human Factors Engineering or Human Systems Integration. NASA did acknowledge the need of designing for habitability. (Connors et al., 1985). However, a method to address or assess this has not been found. It is thought that designing for habitability in the architectural design of the habitat is likely to decrease stresses on the crew and will therefore improve the crew’s performance.

The architect has to synthesise quantitative constraints, concerning the constructibility of the habitat as a sub-system, and qualitative requirements, related to the habitability of the architectural program organization, into one integrated design. For a mission to Mars, it was found that the mission architecture forms the baseline for the design parameters that the architect has to consider. The mission architecture, or concept of operations, will result in several baseline assumptions. Based on these assumptions the criteria for constructibility of the surface habitat can be quantified. In addition, the characteristics of the crew and their psychological and physical needs can be defined. These requirements will then form the driving parameters for the space architect’s design of the surface habitat.

During habitat development a continuous design iteration will be necessary between the architect and mission engineers as well as space psychology experts. The architect will develop the habitat’s configuration of system elements and organization of functional activities. In turn, the other experts will evaluate the proposal based on the constructability and habitability of the habitat system, therefore qualifying the design in terms of its feasibility.

Some preliminary criteria for the design evaluation of the surface habitat have been defined. The criteria related to constructability enhold, but are not limited to, fitting the budgets of mass, power, volume and the schedule as well as having the chosen sub-systems to meet the required Technology Readiness Levels and the building construction to meet the requirements for technical performance based on characteristics of the chosen location. The criteria related to habitability enhold, but are not limited to, meeting the physiological needs and safety measures for psychological well-being, facilitating privacy, engagement opportunities and autonomy, as well as a creating a positive perception of the enclosed space.

Finally, a design exercise was conducted to test application of the framework. The result of the preliminary design revealed insight in the complexity of the design task at hand and the need for a continuous interdisciplinary design iteration between experts from both mission engineering and space psychology. These iterations will be of vital importance in order to come to a final habitat design which will be feasible in terms of constructibility and habitability. The defined framework will form a starting point for shaping this design process, thus resulting in an evolvable design strategy.