ZERo-carbon building enabling Adaptive opaque Facade technology

Introduction

Building market demands high indoor environmental quality but is under the pressure of energy price volatility, European policies targeting a carbon neutral building stock by 2050, and local building regulations. A drastic carbon footprint reduction on the EU building stock is only possible with:

1. A strong reduction of heating and cooling energy demand
2. The limitation of the embodied environmental impacts of building materials

Proposed Solution

We propose a disruptive facade concept, the ZERo-carbon building enabler Adaptive opaque Facade (ZERAF), to achieve a significant decrease in operational energy demand while reducing the environmental impact of new and existing buildings through novel materials.

Concept Overview

The ZERAF concept enables shifting the opaque building façade systems from being static thermal barriers to thermal modulators. The disruptive configurations of opaque façade technology and the use of novel materials, such as smart Shape Memory Alloys and new generation bio-based polyurethanes, enable dynamic thermal control.

Environmental Impact

Moreover, ZERAF minimizes the number of primary sources (in terms of volume and diversity) and, consequently, the embodied carbon. ZERAF radically reconceptualizes the adaptive opaque facades concept, taking the opportunity to conduct high-risk/low-TRL research in an interdisciplinary environment. This approach aims to bring cutting-edge novelties from aerospace, biomedicine, nanomaterials, chemistry, and IoT to the building sector.

Objectives

The objective is to scientifically prove that the ZERAF concept can control all heat transfer mechanisms in opaque building façades to a significant level. Prototypes will be manufactured for the first time, and their thermal behavior will be characterized in a dedicated laboratory that couples a calorimeter and a continuous sun simulator.

Sustainability Assessment

To ensure that the materials used, fabrication processes, and assembly methods do not jeopardize the carbon footprint reduction, the most relevant sustainability parameters will be quantified through a building life cycle method.