Facade

From Swikipedia

Introduction

A facade or façade is generally one side of the exterior of a building, especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. In architecture, the facade of a building is often the most important from a design standpoint, as it sets the tone for the rest of the building.

Brief Description

Facade Remodeling

When examining old facades or considering new construction, building use, historical value, and aesthetic impact must be taken into account. Existing building facades can be added onto, altered, or completely rebuilt. New construction must be designed to fit the character of existing structures.

Façades: a key area for Sustainable Development

New buildings, predominantly domestic housing, only add somewhere between 1 and 5% to the total building stock each year. The development of new façade solutions that can respond to the needs of the occupants of both new and refurbished buildings is, therefore, a key area for development. The facade of a building can account for between 15 and 40% of the total building budget. Furthermore over the life of the facade, maintenance can account for between five and ten times the initial costs of the installation.

In complex buildings the mechanical and electrical services can account for 30–40%, or more, of the total building budget. Intelligent application of advanced ‘smart’ facade technology in conjunction with innovative environmental systems can result in significant energy savings and—at the same time—improvement of indoor comfort. It has been shown that, when designed carefully, innovative systems do not represent additional initial building costs, running costs are lower and energy costs can be reduced by approximately 30% compared with conventional solutions. Although the performance requirements of a facade have a degree of common function in both the domestic and commercial building application, there are distinct differences. Workplaces such as offices have to provide a glare-free working environment to enable the use of computer screens and, owing to their location, are often subject to higher external noise levels than domestic buildings. In addition, ownership of an office or desk is fairly transient within the working environment, which makes ‘fine tuning’ to the ideal needs of an occupant difficult. This is often limited at the lowest level to a desk lamp and a few framed family photos, but the tailoring of a building to the needs of a specific occupant can be extended through the integration of a smart facade and intelligent building control.

Function of a smart Façade

Achieving a smart facade within existing buildings requires the development of innovative solutions, products and processes to improve the building’s performance. Furthermore, implementation strategies are required to ensure the acceptance of the products and processes among the stakeholder groups associated with maintenance, refurbishment and use of buildings.

One of the major issues that requires attention is the energy load within buildings. The energy load associated with conditioned internal environments can be avoided with the assistance of intelligent control systems. This means that the zero energy building (zero operational energy) is an achievable goal, using only renewable resources and incidental heat gains to ‘drive’ a building’s comfort system. Active control mechanisms can significantly contribute towards minimizing the use of energy in buildings. An important aim for the improvement of the performance of residential and commercial multi-occupancy buildings is, therefore, to reduce the energy flow across the interface. The sustainability of various building facade types has to be assessed and their benefits and constraints have to be classified as well as their application for refurbishment. Examples of multi-occupancy buildings include: social housing, multi-storey housing, commercial offices, education, hotels and catering, health and local government facilities.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fa%C3%A7ade

http://www.class.uidaho.edu/communityresearch/facade_remodeling.htm

http://www.atypon-link.com/doi/pdf/10.1680/ensu.158.2.89.67119?cookieSet=1