Design Strategies IMPULSE - Sustainable Facades Vol 2

1. INTRODUCTION
As the title Sustainable Façades declares, the focus
of this report is on “façades”, which generally refer
to the vertical surfaces of the building envelope,
including the walls, doors, windows, balustrades,
balconies, parapets and depending on the case,
possibly parts of the roof (Knaack et al., 2007; Klein,
2013), and how they impact the people inside and
outside of buildings, as well as the environment
and the economy. Sustainable practices can be
integrated into multiple stages of projects, including
the design, construction, use, maintenance, and
end-of-life stage of buildings. However, determining
the sustainability of a project is a complex task,
given its wide-ranging implications.
The cover of this magazine shows the façade of the
Schüco One building in Bielefeld designed by 3XN
Architects, the first building in the world to receive
all three sustainability certifications from the LEED,
BREEAM and DGNB labels. This sets a precedent
in the construction industry but also highlights
some conceptual differences between labels. For
example, the BREAM category “pollution” differs
from the LEED v.4.1. scorecard for Building Design
and Construction, which is the most popular
worldwide (Chomsky, 2023) since LEED doesn’t
account for potential unintended by-products of
the building, showing how BREAM is more flexible
to unexpected circumstances.
The controversial case of the 20 Fenchurch Street
skyscraper – the “walkie talkie” in London can
exemplify how the BREAM covers an aspect that
could be neglected by other labels. As it became
well known, the concave façade acted as a mirror
reflecting sunbeams to the street, leading to
material damage (Smith-Spark, 2013). The project
was applying for BREAM certification, and it was
put on hold until the developers solved the issue
by installing a brise-soleil to diffuse the reflected
sunlight and prevent further damage. Afterwards,
the certification was restored and it has since then
become an iconic project in the skyline of London.
When focusing on the requirements for adequate
façade performance it is clear that the criteria
are probably not the same in every project,
therefore façade performance is contextdependent.
According to Bianchi et al. (2024)
façade performance can be classified into
three main performance categories: Functional,
Environmental, and Financial. These categories
correspond to the three pillars of the triple
bottom line (Society, Environment, Economy).
Therefore, raising the idea that for a façade to
be sustainable, it should perform adequately in
those three aspects. The functional performance
category includes structural safety, human comfort
(including air quality, thermal, acoustic and visual
comfort), and durability as the main criteria.
Environmental performance includes energy and
material efficiency, considering not only energy
demand, generation and storage, but also carbon
footprint and biodiversity impacts. The financial
performance category is focused on the initial,
operational and end-of-life costs. This overview of
performance criteria helps identify the potential
performance of a specific project, however,
this classification does not exclude overlapping
between categories.
Considering these issues, as explained in the
first edition of Sustainable Façades, the goal of
this report is to explore the possible meanings
of sustainability within the built environment,
examining façades as intrinsic elements of every
building and every city. This introduction is followed
by the next sections:
Section 2 | Latest Research is a showcase of
recent publications by members of the academic
network of TH OWL. In this edition, we have
a summary of the PhD thesis of Dr.-Ing. Anica
Dragutinovic, focused on the deterioration and
management challenges of post-war mass housing
neighborhoods, exemplified by New Belgrade
Blocks. It explores how ownership changes and
community dynamics affect these areas. The study
applied participatory methods to develop a valuesbased
intervention framework for these spaces,
promoting inclusive heritage management, and
contributing to residents‘ sense of belonging.
Section 3 | Articles presents original work
developed recently that has not been published
elsewhere. This section includes two Master
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INTRODUCTION
Design Strategies IMPULSE – Sustainable Façades 04.2024
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