DOI: 10.5176/2301-394X_ACE13.126
Authors: Matt Fajkus,
Abstract:
As buildings use a large portion of all energy consumed and building envelopes are responsible for most energy exchange, the energy efficiency of facades has become increasingly important. In light of the fact that building envelope design and construction are critical for building performance as well as the fact that architects and engineers rarely collaborate in the early phases of design processes, the The University of Texas at Austin has established a Thermal Facade Lab. The lab exists as a physical chamber to allow testing of daylighting, thermal exchange, ventilation, and the use of direct and indirect solar energy. The full-scale size of the Thermal Facade Lab helps provide particularly accurate data, as the prediction of a structure’s lighting and thermal behavior is inherently dependent on the use of real-scale testing facilities. Simultaneously, the data collected through experimentation with the Thermal Facade Lab is used in the calibration of energy simulation software. Physical facade mock-up tests inspire new speculative simulated tests and vice-versa. An initial shading structure prototype was designed, built and tested virtually and physically. The Thermal Facade Lab offers the opportunity to develop an integrated approach to problem solving by an interdisciplinary team of architectural and engineering students as well as professionals. Initial facade construction design and mock-up experiments as well as corollary virtual experiments have yielded interesting qualitative and quantitative results, warranting a larger discussion about their implications.
Keywords: Facades; Daylighting; Building Skin Construction Assembly; Architecture/Engineering Collaboration
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