advanced building skins 14 | 15 June 2012 - lamp.tugraz.at - Graz ...

Advanced Building Skins
Again the poor standard raised a poor sectorial image of prefabrication technology. Recently some
things have changed to a better starting position. The rapid growth and availability of computer
capacity to perform calculations and newest prefabrication technologies allow for the first time a
combination of highly efficient prefabrication technologies with design tools simultaneously allowing
a high individualization of products i.e. façades. In practice, this leads to enormous time- and cost
savings as well as following possibilities:
Comprehensive high quality transdisciplinary integral planning
Efficient high quality prefabrication
Minimization of installation times with lower error rate
Mass production of basic elements due to prefabrication
Expanding design options due to a modular approach
High potential for enhancement of sustainability performance
Due to this initial position the K-Project, “Multifunctional Plug & Play Façade” (acronym: MPPF),
launched in 2008. The research project MPPF aims the development of a multifunctional façade
system to be used in modular construction methods with the highest possible level of prefabrication.
The approach lies in “the expansion of the functionality of these prefabricated façade elements with
building engineering functions (like e.g. heat, cold input, air input, lighting, water, power and IT
supply) as well as by solar energy technologies (solar thermal, PV)”[39]. Figure 3 shows the function
modules (1-18) integrated in the first version of the MPPF test facade of the consortium’s leader
FIBAG in Stallhofen, Styria.
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Function modules in MPPF Protoype 1
01) opaque polycrystalline PV ceiling - south
02) opaque polycrystalline PV centre - south
03) opaque polycrystalline PV baseline - south
04) opaque polycrystalline PV ceiling - west
05) opaque polycrystalline PV centre - west
06) opaque polycrystalline PV baseline - west
07) amorphous semi-transparent (10%) PV - south
08) amorphous semi-transparent (20%) PV - south
09) daylight photovoltaics module (PTM) - south
10) Solar thermal ceiling module - south
11) Solar thermal centre module - south
12) Solar thermal baseline module - south
13) Solar thermal ceiling module - south
14) Solar thermal centre module - south
15) Solar thermal baseline module - south
16) HVAC module - west
17) HVAC electrochromic glazing - south
18) HVAC electrochromic glazing - west
Figure 3: Different function modules integrated in the test facade. Source [39]