Building envelopes – A permeable interface for daylight and solar harvesting

The ultimate impact buildings have on our lives is fundamental: buildings represent a major part of our life, with a share of over 40% of overall energy use, waste and CO2 emissions, almost 50% of the population now living in cities, and 90% of time typically spent indoors. With lighting being responsible for the greatest energy requirements in commercial buildings - that are also mostly used during daytime -, and with heating and cooling being the two second most energy-demanding building functions, it appears very clearly how efficient daylighting and solar control strategies can have a tremendous impact on energy use. But any savings can only be effective if one also carefully accounts for our comfort, well-being and health criteria. This talk will explore current research efforts at the interface between architecture and building technology, with a focus on the integration of building performance in design as far as daylighting and passive solar strategies are concerned.