Industrialised, Integrated, Intelligent sustainable Construction - I3con

HANDBOOK 2 SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION
The Climate Adaptive Skin - Developing a New Façade Concept
Using Passive Technologies
Bas Hasselaar, Wim van der Spoel, Regina Bokel and Hans Cauberg
Faculty of Architecture, Chair of Climate Design, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
Abstract
A new generation of façades is under development that takes a
different approach to both climate control and user comfort
perception. The Climate Adaptive Skin is a façade concept under
development at the TU Delft that aims to create a comfortable indoor
office climate while consuming as little primary energy as possible.
Building services are integrated into the façade itself at office-room
scale, making the office adjacent to the façade independent of
centralised HVAC systems and the indoor environment optimally
adjustable by the user. Energy consumption is reduced to a minimum
by using technologies and materials that are able to react to the
changing thermal environment, such as phase change materials
(PCM) and thermotropic glass. The façade concept is simulated
using a custom made model in Simulink that has been validated
using measurements on test units in a climate chamber. The
resulting model can be used to predict the behaviour of the façade in
real life situations.
Keywords: climate control, cooling, façade, phase change materials, PCM, adaptive, thermal
comfort
Introduction
In most modern buildings, a comfortable indoor climate is created using energy consuming
centralised building services that provide heat or cold, ventilation air and often regulate artificial
lighting as well. A new façade is under development that takes a different approach to both climate
control and user comfort perception.
The basic concept behind the façade is that it is able to create a comfortable indoor climate using both
the indoor and outdoor climate. This means that characteristics of the indoor office space, i.e.
presence of internal heat sources, a need for fresh air and daylight, and room temperatures within
certain limits, are used and combined with outdoor (temperature, air and solar) influences to create a
comfortable indoor climate, with the goal to minimise (primary) energy consumption.
Besides the energy demand of the façade, additional conditions are formulated, such as a limited
façade thickness and a simple, ‘robust’ façade design. A robust design will minimise maintenance and
reduce the likelihood of malfunction.
The limited façade thickness reduces its footprint, and leaves more useful building area to both
architect and user. Also, a limited façade thickness makes it easier to attach the façade to the building,
reducing potential construction difficulties. The desire to create a ‘simple’ façade that can function,
i.e. create a comfortable indoor climate, autonomously to a large extent, while requiring little
maintenance, has its advantages. A façade independent of warm/cold air/water needs no pipes or ducts
for climate control. No ducts or pipes means that installing a façade is much easier, quicker, and that
there is no need for a lowered ceiling or duct along the façade to accommodate the space with these
services. In short, the whole building layout can be a lot simpler and be used more flexible if the
111