Advanced Active Façades : The construction of a full-scale demonstrator for BIPV architectural integration

In most European countries, new energy directives on building performance have been developed as a consequence of unsustainable greenhouse gas emissions. These norms promote active and passive energy strategies to lower the environmental impact of the building sector. Among the active strategies, building envelopes with Building Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) have a significant potential to generate clean electricity. However, despite the numerous advantages of BIPV products, diverse barriers are preventing their large-scale implementation. Many architects complain about their poor aesthetics as well as the lack of information on existing BIPV solutions, which leads to a generalized lack of interest on BIPV among building stakeholders. Aiming at overcoming these barriers, an interdisciplinary research team has designed and constructed the Advanced Active Façade (AAF) full-scale demonstrator. The mock-up integrates active and passive energy strategies such as BIPV and low-carbon construction principles, to meet the latest façade energy requirements. The AAF demonstrator approaches BIPV integration from an architectural perspective and showcases a new BIPV panel composition which widens the range of BIPV façade design opportunities. The ultimate objective of the AAF demonstrator is to generate an active façade architectural reference, while providing architects with an assessed low-carbon façade construction system.