Towards advanced active façades : The development of a new construction system combining passive and active design strategies

In Switzerland, as in many European countries, new energy directives focus on decreasing the carbon footprint of buildings by promoting passive and active energy strategies and systems. Among the latter, Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV), which function both as envelope materials and electricity producers, are rapidly improving their performance. However, their potential remains largely unrealized due to diverse barriers. Among them, the poor expressive qualities of many BIPV products are preventing architects from using these systems. In reaction, and with the goal of bridging the gap between technology and designers, a new façade concept has been developed integrating BIPV expressive issues. This is the Advanced Active Façade (AAF) concept, which results from analyzing the evolution of façade requirements and solutions over time. The AAF combines passive and active façade design strategies. This is to say; it simultaneously aims to achieve low embodied energy by benefiting from passive low-carbon design strategies, and to generate energy by integrating BIPV technology. The AAF construction system is the direct application of the AAF concept to construction practice. It is a wood-based, self-supporting and demountable façade system, which meets the most exigent insulating targets and is compatible with a wide range of existing BIPV formats and emerging technologies. The development of this system is paired with a series of design strategies, which present a variety of scenarios where the AAF concept can be applied. In addition, his concept is assessed regarding its environmental impact, cost and architectural quality. The AAF construction system and design strategies have provided the basis for realizing a real scale active prototype. Ultimately, the output of the research will provide architects with a system and assessed design strategies to optimize design process of BIPV façades, meeting the new energy directives performance standards.