A new approach to façades that provides both improved insulation and the solar energy collection capabilities is ready for real world testing in Merida, Span.
A consortium has developed a retrofit façade that is appropriate for different types of buildings, according to phys.org. The façade passed testing of its fire, water, wind, impact, acoustic and permeability resistance capabilities. It now is ready to be installed on a real building, the story says.
The story describes the tests that were conducted on the façade. The solar collector and ventilation unit, the story says, had to pass special tests because they require that the interior and exterior of the buildings be connected through holes in the original façade. The fear was that the holes could impact the building’s heating system.
The big picture view is that that buildings are not passive: They either contribute to, or detract from, energy efficiency efforts. This means that there are many things that can be done to push the envelope on energy savings. This week, Fortune posted a piece on initiatives aimed at using analytics and other approaches to make buildings run smarter and, therefore, more efficiently.
