Realigning the design of building envelopes within the measures of air, light and heat has rendered possible an inventive form of practice whose benefits are far in excess of the metrics of data and analysis. For many of its most advanced practitioners, the contemporary design of facades engages the true potential of “performance” when it deepens, broadens and complicates the theoretical dimension of this most liminal of surfaces. Of particular interest to this paper is a discussion of new theoretical paradigms associated with the design and operation of high performance envelopes of which four characteristics of this emergent sub-discipline are herein examined. To begin with, the way in which building envelopes are no longer separators, dividers and barriers between a building’s interior and exterior conditions, but rather, “spatially” defined environments that fully engage the totality of a building’s engineering systems, is discussed. Cantilevered Louvers, Double Skin Facades and Hybrid Conditioned Atria are representative of this new paradigm as is the use of Responsive Technologies to optimize their behaviors. Lastly, the paper examines the rise of the new integrated design building envelope professional called upon to deliver ever-better performing skins, whether in the guise of energy modeler, climate engineer or fa？ade construction specialist. Hence, this paper develops a theoretical structure within which to describe, analyze and interpret the values made possible by this new and expanding field of performance based envelopes.
References
[1]
Hegger, M.; Fuchs, M.; Stark, T.; Zeumer, M. Energy Manual—Sustainable Architecture; Birkhauser Edition Detail: Munich, Germany, 2008; pp. 82–109.
[2]
Powell, K.; Dawson, S. London pride [City Hall]. Archit. J. 2002, 216, 32–33.
[3]
Sudjic, D. La Casa del Sindaco = London’s City Hall. Domus 2002, 852, 40–41.
[4]
Russell, R.B. Morphosis: San Francisco Federal Office Building. GA Doc. 2002, 70, 92–95.
[5]
Yukio, F. Morphosis: United States Federal Building. GA Doc. 2007, 96, 56–73.
[6]
Li, H.; Hideki, H.; Matthias, M.S. On the ground with architect and engineer. A+U 2008, 449, 37–49.
Coyne, M.C. Dollars and (Common) Sense Realizing the Value of Green for Key Users. In Green Building Bottom Line—The Real Cost of Sustainable Building; McGraw Hill: New York, NY, USA, 2009; pp. 199–219.
[9]
Lovell, J. Building Envelopes: An Integrated Approach; Princeton Architectural Press: New York, NY, USA, 2010.
[10]
Herzog, T.; Krippner, R.; Lang, W. Fa？ade Construction Manual; Birkhauser Edition Detail: Munich, Germany, 2004.
[11]
Murray, S. Contemporary Curtain Wall Architecture; Princeton Architectural Press: New York, NY, USA, 2009.
[12]
Schittich, C. Building Skins; Birkhauser Edition Detail: Munich, Germany, 2006.
[13]
Dahl, T. Climate and Architecture; Routledge—Taylor & Francis Group: London, UK, 2010.
[14]
Stein, R.G. Architecture and Energy Conserving Energy through Rational Design; Anchor Press/Doubleday: New Gloucester, ME, USA, 1977; pp. 108–169.
[15]
Banham, R. The Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment; The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, IL, USA, 1984.
[16]
Kouwenhoven, J.A. Book review: The architecture of the well-tempered environment. Technol. Cult. 1970, 11, 85–93, doi:10.2307/3102813.
[17]
Fernandez-Galiano, L. Fire and Memory on Architecture and Energy; MIT Press: Cambridge, MA, USA, 2000.
[18]
Baird, G. The Architectural Expression of Environmental Control Systems; Spon Press: London, UK, 2001.
[19]
Banham, R. A home is not a house. Archit. Des. 1969, 39, 45–48.
[20]
Olgyay, V. Design with Climate: Bioclimatic Approach to Architectural Regionalism; Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ, USA, 1963.
[21]
Olgyay, V. Solar Control and Shading Devices; Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ, USA, 1957.
[22]
Maloney, J. Designing Kinetics for Architectural Facades; Routledge—Taylor & Francis Group: Abingdon, UK; New York, NY, USA, 2011.
[23]
Trubiano, F.; Roudsari, S.M.; Ozkan, A. Building Simulation and Evolutionary Optimization in the Conceptual Design of a High-Performance Office Building. In Proceedings of IBPSA/BS 2013: 13th Conference of International Building Performance Simulation Association, Chambéry, France, 26–28 August 2013.
[24]
Foster + Partners Home Page. Available online: http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/lycee-albert-camus/ (accessed on 31 July 2013).
[25]
Trubiano, F. Energy Free Architectural Design: The Case of Passivhaus and Double Skin Facades. In Design and Construction of High Performance Homes; Routledge Press: London, UK, 2012; pp. 37–54.
[26]
Ford, B. Double-Skin Facades: Improving Performance and Reducing Costs. In Proceedings of Passive and Low Energy Architecture Environmental Sustainability: The Challenge of Awareness in Developing Societies, Lebanon, Beirut, Lebanon, 13–16 November 2005.
[27]
Balocco, C. Thermal behaviour of interactive mechanically ventilated double glazed fa？ade: Non-dimensional analysis. Energy Build. 2006, 38, 1–7, doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2005.02.006.
[28]
Poirazis, H. Double Skin Facades. Available online: http://www.ecbcs.org/docs/Annex_43_Task34-Double_Skin_Facades_A_Literature_Review.pdf (accessed on 1 August 2013).
[29]
Gratia, E.; De Herde, A. Are energy consumptions decreased with the addition of a double-skin? Energy Build. 2007, 39, 605–619, doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2006.10.002.
[30]
Rumford, B. The Complete Works of Count Rumford; American Academy of Arts and Sciences: Boston, MA, USA, 1875.
[31]
Moe, K. Thermally Active Surfaces in Architecture; Princeton Architectural Press: New York, NY, USA, 2010.
[32]
Flagge, I. Thomas Herzog, Architecture and Technology; Prestel Books: Munich, Germany, 2002.
[33]
Norman, F. Catalogue Foster + Partners; Prestel Publishing: Harrisburg, PA, USA, 2008; pp. 310–314.
[34]
Mehaffy, M.; Salingaros, N. Why Green Architecture Hardly Ever Deserves the Name. Available online: http://www.archdaily.com/396263 (accessed on 31 July 2013).
[35]
Manitoba Hydro Place Home Page. Available online: http://manitobahydroplace.com/Integrated-Architecture/ (accessed on 31 July 2013).
[36]
Thun, G.; Velikov, K. Responsive Building Envelopes: Characteristics and Evolving Paradigms. In Design and Construction of High Performance Homes; Routledge Press: London, UK, 2012; pp. 75–92.
[37]
Cilento, K. Al Bahar Towers Responsive Facade/Aedas. Available online: http://www.archdaily.com/270592 (accessed on 31 July 2013).
[38]
Yi, Y. Building Performance and Computational Simulation. In Design and Construction of High Performance Homes; Routledge Press: London, UK, 2012; pp. 163–177.
[39]
Tonks, N. Ove Arup: Philosophy of Design; Prestel: London, UK, 2006.
[40]
Brislin, P. Arup Associates, Unified Design; John Wiley & Sons: London, UK, 2008.
[41]
Thierfelder, A. Transsolar-Climate Engineering; 2003.
