Adaptive Building Envelopes.
For the third time, the international conference “Fassade 2014” took place in Switzerland this year, organised by the Competence Center Facade and Metal Engineering of the Lucerne School of Engineering and Architecture and the University Ostwestfalen-Lippe in Detmold (D) in cooperation with the Schweizerische Zentrale für Fenster und Fassade (SZFF). Internationally renowned engineers and architects introduced newest trends, developments and technologies related to the building envelope.
This year’s event, themed “Adaptive Building Envelopes” was dedicated to a still relatively new technology.
On the path toward more energy efficient buildings, multifunctional, adaptive and dynamic facades can be considered the next big milestone in facade technology. Adaptive building envelopes are able to interact with the environment and the user by reacting to external influences and adapting their behaviour and functionality accordingly: the building envelope insulates only when necessary, it produces energy when possible, it shades or ven-tilates when the indoor comfort so demands.

KKL Luzern
In spite of numerous already realised projects the development and realisation of adaptive building envelopes is still in the initial stage. In addition to new technologies that enable adaptive behaviour, simulation tools and suitable testing methods must be developed, and existing norms and regulations must be adapted. Another step is to integrate such facades in the overall building system which requires a holistic view due to the many interfaces with other subcontracts such as building services, for example.