Trends in the building envelope system

This paper refers to an experience, in progress, of a research aimed at creating elements of building envelope with a strong interactive/adaptive component based on renewable energy sources and remote management systems. This means the plant and functional integration between the layers constituting the element in relation to the orientation of the building and to the different periods of seasonal weather. It’s, therefore, the envelope that has the task of creating a balance between interior and exterior in terms of distribution of temperature, air flow, purity, and humidity, and the type of radiation. The envelope therefore acquires new specificities and new performances dictated by the need to have an osmotic membrane, that is scalable and capable of varying its behavior according to the varying stimulations: is transformed into a selective mediation element, that is able to control, enable or disable a number of signals varying according to the objectives of the project. The environmental behavior of the envelope is inseparable from the building-plant-environment system. The great infrastructure for research BUILDING FUTURE Lab., created by the Università Mediterranea, through EU funds (8.6 M€), represents a technological innovation for Testing building performance. The BFL exceeds the traditional transfer method of constructive experiences, and strives to achieve a transfer of technology and skills-based testing for the definition and certification of performance. Within this project there are some patents in investigation; on this occasion will be presented some patents from the project, like a new "Apparatus for testing the water permeability of samples of facades of buildings". The division - Test LAB-Test CELL-Test ROOM, which we both designed and realized with the Bosch REXROTH, aims to build and enhance a comprehensive testing system that has a high degree of control of the internal, external and Envelope conditions, of a specific constructive system and with a measurement instrumentation, which may be the solution to overcome the criticalities and to enable the use of defined parameters and characteristic of the component subjected to specific conditions. In conclusion, in order to guide the actual project towards the creation of new building qualities exceeding the current praxis, including Social Housing, BFL will be fully active from Sept. 2016. In this context, our research group, will present the first results at IAHS2016 which have been realized alongside other public and private entities, creating a new generation of innovative envelopes.