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This paper presents research on lightweight construction and smart, integrated and adaptive building systems. The research is focused on addressing challenges related to the building industry at large, including most prominently the improvement of energy efficiency, onsite power generation, and the reduction of the quantity of materials required to build. We introduce four innovations in context of the design of an experimental building (NEST HiLo): a lightweight, unreinforced funicular floor system; a flexibly formed, concrete shell sandwich roof; a soft actuated, adaptive solar facade and an automated, occupant-centred control system. We demonstrate novel structural engineering approaches to compression-only concrete elements and shell design using multi-criteria shape optimisation. We explore a building facade concept, which employs robotic actuators for solar shading and on-site generation. In addition, the operational phase of the building will be used as a living laboratory where occupants' locations and needs for comfort are detected and used for the control of the energy innovations. The research provides insight into design topics that will become increasingly relevant for the evolution of improved lifecycle energy buildings.

Based on 2050 Swiss and European Union targets, significant energy performance improvements will be required for new and renovated buildings. However, the construction industry has a poor record for delivering productivity and efficiency advancement. As proven in other industries, digital methods can shorten product development time and cost by reducing prototyping with the use of numerical simulation. Further, a digital twin is an extensive computational model of a product that is planned to improve over its lifecycle by leveraging operational data. This paper presents a coupled simulation for the thermal design of a heating and cooling system that is integrated with a lightweight roof structure. The concrete roof structure is shape optimised to provide a low embodied energy building element, which is thermally activated to supply space conditioning from a renewable geothermal source. This work is focused on the modelling methodology used by the energy domain to support the development of a digital twin for a multifunctional building element. High-resolution analysis is used to resolve building physics issues and to provide the initial system performance. A parametric geometry model is used to apply the hydronic pipework to a complex roof shape. With input from the previous two steps, a reduced resolution method is used to add the characteristics of the system to an industry standard whole building simulation model. This final step allows for the development of initial control strategies for the novel multifunctional element. The implications of the research findings are discussed in the context of possible alternations to the building design process due to the influence of digital fabrication., Energy and Buildings, 202, ISSN:0378-7788, ISSN:1872-6178

Future buildings will require significant performance improvements to adhere to greenhouse gas mitigation strategies. One method is to consider building components as multifunctional elements. These elements can perform several functions simultaneously, such as energy and structural aspects. As opposed to traditional sequential design in which each building element performs its own dedicated function. The former requires an integrated approach to prioritise the use of renewable energy sources and the reduction of materials. In this paper, we present three multifunctional elements: a lightweight shell roof, a funicular floor and an adaptive solar facade. We focus on the numerical simulation used to integrate thermally active building systems (TABS) and building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) with lightweight structures. We outline a framework for the integration of the multifunctional element analysis with a dynamic building model and the performance factors of a district energy network. We exemplify the framework through the design of a real experimental building in Zurich, Switzerland. This delivered a net plus energy building (NPEB) with an annual weighted energy demand of 37.8 kW h/m2 a and a weighted energy surplus of 45%. The results demonstrate the enhanced performance in terms of operational and embodied emissions.

The Adaptive Solar Facade (ASF) is a modular, highly integrated dynamic building facade.The energetic behavior as well as the architectural expression of the facade can be controlled with high spatio-temporal resolution through individually addressable modules. We present the general design process, the current mechanical design, and simulation results on photovoltaic power production and building energy consumption. We introduce the controller concept and show results on solar tracking as well as user interaction. Lastly, we present our current and planned prototypes., Frontiers of Architectural Research, 5 (2), ISSN:2095-2635, ISSN:2095-2643