Search

Thin, rectangular structural plates are used in a wide range of applications, including architectural sheet metal cladding, in which the magnitude of lateral deflection is much larger the material’s thickness. This study compares new experimental data with established algebraic models and assesses the influence of practicalities such as geometric tolerances and partial fixity of connections. Errors and anomalies are identified in existing analytical formulas. It is also shown that standardised test methods measure only part of an imperfectly-flat plate’s lateral movement, and that the actual displacement of plates in real structures can be several times greater than that inferred by a naive application of non-linear plate theory. Findings are presented as set of guidelines to help practising engineers create economical structures that will not deflect excessively when load is applied.

In this study, a methodology for the service life prediction of architectural concrete facades is proposed, following a research line previously developed for other types of claddings, to evaluate their durability. The methodology developed is based on the collection of data in visual inspections. In this study, 174 facades were analysed, during the fieldwork phase, through a survey of the different degradation phenomena. This information is used to define degradation curves, which graphically express the loss of performance of architectural concrete facades over time, evaluating the influence of the degradation agents, allowing estimating a reference service life for this type of coating. The model proposed in this study leads to acceptable and consistent results, adequately translating the degradation observed in reality. However, for some characteristics of architectural concrete facades, it is not possible to obtain unequivocal conclusions, which reveals the high susceptibility of these coatings to the aggressive environmental agents, e.g. sea salts, which act simultaneously on the facade, hindering the determination of the separate influence of these characteristics on the degradation found. This study intends to give a contribution to the service life prediction of exterior facades, allowing defining rational maintenance plans and reducing the costs associated to the buildings refurbishment during their life cycle.

Design und Build-Vergaben sind fur Bauherren insbesondere dann interessant, wenn kurze Ausfuhrungsfristen fur die Fertigstellung und Inbetriebnahme von Gebauden realisiert werden mussen und die Bauvorhaben einen erhohten Komplexitatsgrad aufweisen. Unter diesen Voraussetzungen entscheiden sich Bauherren des Ofteren dafur, getrennte Planungs-, Vergabe- und Ausfuhrungsablaufe mit den erforderlichen Schnittstellenkoordinationen aus Effizienzgrunden in einem Paket zu vergeben. Beim Neubau einer dreistockigen Messwarte mit angeschlossenen Laborgebaude fur eine neue Produktionsanlage von Toluoldiisocyanat (TDI) am Standort Ludwigshafen hat die BASF SE daher die HOCHTIEF Building GmbH mit einem Design und Build-Projekt beauftragt. Die Planung wurde dabei federfuhrend durch die Abteilung Consult IKS Energy der HOCHTIEF Engineering GmbH am Standort Frankfurt durchgefuhrt. Die Planung umfasste dabei teilweise die Entwurfs- und Genehmigungsplanung sowie die vollstandige Ausfuhrungsplanung fur alle bautechnisch erforderlichen Planungsgewerke, angefangen von der Objektplanung uber die Tragwerksplanung und Fassadenplanung bis hin zu bauphysikalischen Nachweisen und der TGA- und Laborplanung. Daruber hinaus musste der auf einer Pfahlgrundung in Massivbauweise errichtete Gebaudekomplex druckwellenfest ausgelegt werden. Bei der Gebaudeauslegung und Planung waren fur den Notfall zusatzlich Anforderungen zur Gasdichtheit inklusive einer gebaudeinternen Atemluftversorgung zu berucksichtigen. Design-and-Build Project: Design and construction of a control room with laboratory Design and build contracts are of particular interest for clients if tight schedule requirements for the completion and commissioning of buildings have to be considered and the projects have a high level of complexity. With these preconditions clients rather decide to award separate planning, procurement and construction processes with all necessary interface coordination to one contractor for reasons of efficiency. BASF SE has awarded a design and build contract to HOCHTIEF Building GmbH for a three-storey control room building with laboratory for a new production plant of toluoldiisocyanat (TDI) at the main BASF site in Ludwighafen, Germany. The planning was performed by the department Consult IKS Energy of the HOCHTIEF Engineering GmbH in Frankfurt. The scope of planning included partially the design engineering and the approval planning as well as the full detail planning for all disciplines (architectural planning, structural and facade engineering, building physics, HVAC engineering and laboratory planning). Furthermore, the reinforced concrete structure built on a pile foundation had to be designed blast wave resistant. In addition the requirement for gas tightness had to be considered in the building design, including the execution of an internal air supply in the case of emergency.

Nowadays, there are many tools and methodologies designed to measure the sustainability of buildings. Few of them, however, allow for an isolated assessment of the building systems themselves as components of the entire building. A methodology for assessing the sustainability of building systems, considered in relation to the whole building, will allow manufacturers to assess the sustainability of manufactured components in order to improve their performance. Additionally this will help designers to specify construction arrangements in the early stages of the design. This paper presents the systematisation of a comparative analysis of facade building systems and includes the development of a new methodology that can serve as a basis for carrying out quantitative and qualitative comparisons of the sustainability of industrialised building systems in facades. The methodology is associated with a tool that allows for measuring, assessing and rating the levels of sustainability of the industrialised facades employed in residential buildings. The evaluation is based on ensuring that sustainability criteria are met. It involves an approach to sustainable industrialisation of construction with regard to energy conservation and natural resources, the reuse of these resources and life-cycle management of the materials and components.

Building facades are key elements for indoor illumination, indoor thermal environments, and solar energy utilization and control. In addition to the functions of building facades (rooftops are included in the overall structure of a building facade), solar facades are designed to specifically reject or absorb and reutilize solar heat. The present study reviews the important contents of studies on solar facades that have been published after 2010. Based on the classification of solid and void components of building facades, the solar facades reviewed in this article are divided into two major types: opaque solar facades and transparent or semi-transparent (translucent) facades. In terms of content, we emphasize the introduction of solar facade structures. We hope that this review can be utilized as a reference for academic researchers and will provide architects and related engineering designers with inspiration for building facades or thermal systems.

Im modernen Fassadenbau finden grose Glasflachen immer haufiger Anwendung. Ihre energetischen Kenngrosen sind fur den Warmeeintrag in das Gebaude masgebend. Die Bestimmung kann experimentell oder numerisch erfolgen. In diesem Beitrag werden die spektralen Energieverluste bei der Leistungsdichteverteilung der Sonnenstrahlung beim Durchdringen von Kalk-Natron-Silicatglas analysiert. Dabei werden die Ergebnisse fur Einfach-, Doppel- und Dreifachverglasungen mit unterschiedlichen Beschichtungen dargestellt. Grundlage der Berechnungen ist die VDI 6007 Blatt 2 und die in ihr genannten Regelwerke. Energy dissipation of solar radiation while piercing through various glazing. Large glass surfaces are more and more common in facade engineering. Their energetic indicators are decisive for the building’s temperature profile. Therefore they are defined by means of complex calculations. In this article, there is an analysis of spectral energy dissipation occurring with power density distribution of solar radiation while penetrating through soda lime silica glass. In this context, the results for single, double and triple glazing with various coatings are provided. The calculations are based on the VDI Guideline 6007 Part 2 and its set of rules.

Die Design-Zielsetzung von besonderer, grosflachiger Identitat des Modehauses Louis Vuitton fuhrte zu einer neuartigen Fassadenlosung, welche aus hochfestem Ductal-LaFarge-Beton (UHPC = ultra-high performing concrete) offen vergossene Gussplattenlemente verwendet, die als rain-screen over-clad der bereits vorhandenen Gebaudehulle eine vollig neue Erscheinungsform geben. Mittels feinjustierbarer Unterkonstruktion fur Hinterschnittanker und einer vorangegangenen Laser-3D-Vermessung und der Modellierung der einzelnen Fassadenschichten in Solidworks Software konnte eine praktisch fugenfreie flachige Oberflache erzielt werden, die optisch auf den blumenartigen LV Mode-Emblem-Kreisen beruht und das Gebaude vollstandig neu einhullt. Der folgende Artikel beschreibt die Vorgehensweise zur Planung dieser zweiten Haut aus Sicht des Ingenieurs und Fassadenplaners, welche auch auf der Basis hoher Orkan-Windlasten bemessen ist und das noch nicht genormte Ductal-Material mittels Kleinteilversuchen und FEM-Berechnungen rechnerisch nachweist. Ductal Facade Louis Vuitton in Aventura/Florida – currently largest molded Ductal UHPC building envelope in the US The design objective to create a unique, large surface identity for fashion company Louis Vuitton lead to an innovative facade solution which uses high-strength Ductal LaFarge concrete (UHPC = ultra- high performing concrete) as open-molded panel elements in a rain-screen over-clad application, which give the existing facade an entirely new appearance. Designing a finely adjustable sub-structure for under-cut anchors following 3D laser scans on site combined with Solidworks Software modeling of all envelope layers, a practically joint-free facade surface was created, which is based on the flower-like Louis Vuitton emblem circles wrapping the existing building in a completely new fashion. The following article describes the planning procedure for this second skin from a structural and facade engineering perspective, which is also designed based on high hurricane wind cladding loading and small-scale 1:1 anchor testing data in combination with finite element modeling for the not-yet fully standardized Ductal material.

Modern cities and their architectural structures undergo significant functional and physical changes. In recent years, the interventions on building envelopes have increased. Therefore, it is necessary to analyse potential remodeling of glass facades, along with applying the concept of smart technologies, in order to increase energy efficiency of the existing buildings. This paper analyses the modernization process of devastated glass fagade of the tall Slavija hotel, built in 1960s in Belgrade, Serbia, taking into consideration some positive examples of transformation and reskinning of buildings, where the aspect of medialization is an active part of urban renewal. The subject of this paper is the analysis of research findings about the improved thermal comfort of this building, after performing the replacement of its glass fagade and converting the hotel building into an office building. Special attention was paid to the implementation of media technologies and final effects on energy balance of the newly designed facade. The proposed solution is supposed to evaluate the improved thermal comfort that was achieved by a radical renovation of the facade and by replacing the existing facade with a new single facade (double and triple glazed units), with media elements as well as without them. The research results are presented as proposals for improving EE public buildings by implementing the latest system of curtain walls in order to increase the value of the buildings. One of the most important criteria included in the process of energy refurbishment is technological improvement of the existing buildings, along with the presentation of media facades. The case study is based on EnergyPlus simulations. This is the peer-reviewed version of the article: Tovarović, Jasna Čikić, Jelena Ivanović-Šekularac, and Nenad Šekularac. 2017. ‘Renovation of Existing Glass Facade in Order to Implement Energy Efficiency and Media Facade’. Energy and Buildings 152 (October): 653–66. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2017.07.049]

With its grade II* English Heritage listing, the University of Sheffield's Arts Tower posed a refurbishment challenge. The adopted retrofit solution provides owners of similar properties with a template for an appropriate and sustainable alternative to the customary refurbishment options. This paper demonstrates that a need to preserve the original architectural intentions and functions that characterise these historically important structures does not automatically preclude solutions that accommodate the requirements and expectations of modern building users and operators An understanding of the existing structure, early engagement with conservation officers and sound façade engineering advice were all important in the selection and approval of a strip and re-clad option. This met the strict planning conditions and client objectives, extended the service life of the building by 30 years and was delivered on time and within budget.

Decision-making in the facade design process has a significant influence on several aspects of indoor environment, thereby making it a complex and multi-objective optimisation process. There are two principal barriers in the process of indentifying an optimal facade solution. Firstly, most existing indoor environmental evaluation methods do not account for all the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) aspects relevant to facade design. Secondly, the relationship between the physical properties of a particular facade design option and the resulting economic benefits accrued during its service-life is unknown. In this paper, we introduce the bases for establishing relationships between occupant productivity and the combinatorial effects of four key facade-related IEQ aspects, namely, thermal comfort, aural comfort, visual comfort and air quality, on occupant productivity. The proposed framework's potential is tested against seven existing experimental investigations and its applicability is illustrated by a simple facade design example. The proposed approach ultimately aims to provide a quantitative economic measure of alternative facade design options that would be applicable to early design stage. Aspects of the work that require further experimental validation are identified.

Der innovative Verbundwerkstoff textilbewehrter Beton (kurz: Textilbeton) erschliest neue Anwendungsgebiete im Betonbau und bietet im Fassadenbau zahlreiche Vorteile. Durch die Verwendung nicht-korrodierender technischer Textilien aus alkaliresistentem Glas oder Carbon konnen die Betondeckungen minimiert werden, und es entstehen extrem schlanke Betonbauteile. Durch die Verwendung eines sogenannten Feinbetons mit Korngrosen bis zu 8 mm in Kombination mit speziellen Nachbehandlungstechniken entstehen architektonisch anspruchsvolle und hochwertige Sichtbetonoberflachen. Anhand mehrerer kurzlich abgeschlossener Anwendungsprojekte wird in dem Artikel das Potential hinterlufteter Textilbetonfassaden aufgezeigt, die Elementflachen von uber 12 m2 bei nur 30 mm dicken Plattenspiegeln aufweisen. Ventilated facade structures made of textile reinforced concrete — structural behavior and construction. The innovative composite material textile reinforced concrete (TRC) opens up new application areas in structural concrete engineering and has advantages especially in the field of facade engineering. By using non-corrosive technical textiles made of alkali-resistant glass or carbon, the concrete covers can be minimized resulting in extreme slender concrete members. The used fine-grained concrete with maximum grain-sizes of 8 mm in combination with special curing techniques en ables high-quality fair faced concrete surfaces. The potential of TRC facades has been demonstrated by several projects employing TRC panels with areas over 12 m2 and a thickness of only 30 mm.

The use of glass-aluminum facades as building envelopes is very common in modern construction. In fact, the advantages of their use have rendered them an optimal choice for building designers. However, glass-aluminum facades are commonly designed using rules of thumb having as a result either their over-dimensioning or an unsafe dimensioning leading to possible damages. The present research study aims to contribute to a pilot methodology that would provide engineers aiming to design glass-aluminum facades with the appropriate technique regarding the modeling and the performance of the aforementioned structures subjected to the imposed critical design loadings (cf. e.g. wind and earthquake). The proposed advanced approach is illustrated by means of a numerical application.

The Rosewood experiment examined building information modeling (BIM) and product data exchange in the design and fabrication of architectural precast facades. The facade panels of a 16 story office building were designed and fabricated using traditional CAD, while a parallel workflow was performed independently using BIM tools. No limitations were encountered in designing and detailing of precast facade pieces with current software. Production of the same set of drawings showed a productivity gain of 57% over the CAD process. However, the data exchanges between architectural and precast engineering systems were incomplete and inconsistent, confirming the need for BIM exchange standards. The existing Industry Foundation Classes schema (IFC version 2x3) lacks precast-specific entities and property sets. The majority of the difficulties can be traced to a loss in translation of semantic meaning for the objects exchanged.

Der folgende Aufsatz aus dem Bereich der Fassadenplanung beschreibt, welche Moglichkeiten sich fur die Glaseindeckung gekrummter Gebaudehullen ergeben. Insbesondere viereckige Isolierglasscheiben bieten dazu Vorteile aus Sicht der Bauphysik und der Baukosten. Fur Trockenfugen sollten Flachglaselemente auch nach Einbau vollstandig eben gehalten werden, um Gebrauchstauglichkeit der Primarversiegelung sicherzustellen, wahrend fur nassversiegelte Glasfugen eine gewisse Glasverwindung durchaus moglich ist, sofern Detaillierung und 3D-Geometrie sinnvoll zusammenspielen. Wird die Glasverwindung (“twist”) zu gros, kann eine geschuppte Stufenverglasung angestrebt werden. In allen Fallen bieten der Ansatz von Building Information Modeling (BIM) und digitaler Fabrikation wesentliche Vorteile fur Planung und Realisierung solcher komplexer verglaster Oberflachen. Clad curved building surfaces – Interaction of geometry and glass detailing. The following article addresses the field of facade engineering, describing different options how to clad curved building surfaces. Especially insulated glazing unit quadrangles offer advantages related to building physics and cost. For dry joints, flat glazing units should remain flat also after installation, to achieve long-term serviceability of the primary edge spacer seal, while for wet joints a certain amount of glazing twist is well possible to panelise curved surfaces, given that their detailing and 3D geometry set-up work well together. If the glazing twist exceeds certain limits, a scaled and stepped glazing facade can be aimed for. In all cases the Building Information Modeling (BIM) and digital fabrication approach offer substantial advantages for the planning and realisation process of such complex curved building skin surfaces.

All buildings with noise-sensitive spaces, and residential occupancy in particular, require noise mitigation to be incorporated throughout the architectural, structural and building services design. For tall buildings, the number and type of noise and vibration sources increase, particularly where sustainable design features are incorporated, such as natural ventilation, that can reduce the acoustic performance of facades. Additional noise sources located on and near the facade of a building and the reduced noise isolation afforded by the facade have a detrimental effect on the acoustical amenity within the occupied spaces. This paper reviews noise source identification and mitigation for tall buildings, and considers additional acoustic issues associated with green buildings. In particular, approaches to achieving improved noise transmission loss performance across facades, and the identification and mitigation of the effects of noise and vibration sources located internal and external to the building are considered. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Nowadays, there are many tools and methodologies designed to measure the sustainability of buildings. Few of them, however, allow for an isolated assessment of the building systems themselves as components of the entire building. A methodology for assessing the sustainability of building systems, considered in relation to the whole building, will allow manufacturers to assess the sustainability of manufactured components in order to improve their performance. Additionally this will help designers to specify construction arrangements in the early stages of the design. This paper presents the systematisation of a comparative analysis of facade building systems and includes the development of a new methodology that can serve as a basis for carrying out quantitative and qualitative comparisons of the sustainability of industrialised building systems in facades. The methodology is associated with a tool that allows for measuring, assessing and rating the levels of sustainability of the industrialised facades e...

Sustainable development issues are currently the driving forces of many building projects. The building façade is critical for the architectural expression and has a large affect upon large parts of the building's environmental performance. This study investigates the advantages of using multidimensional computer aided modeling and simulation to produce a sustainable façade design. A first step towards green building design is to establish a list of parameters which can then be used as design criteria, e.g. environmental performance, thermal visual and acoustic comfort, etc. Computer simulation and an analysis of recent projects in Hong Kong can help to determine the performance according to these design parameters whilst environmental impacts due to energy consumption are considered to be an important design parameter, it is also important for comfort criteria to be considered.

A general method for realistic performance evaluation of solar control properties of facades for facades with sun-shading or other solar control systems has been developed. It is particularly designed to be used for venetian blinds. It can be used used ‘stand-alone’ or within building simulation programs. The new method has proven to be of great practical value to planning teams of huge office buildings in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The method is presented in detail in this paper. It can be used either ’stand-alone’ (without building simulation) for comparisons of different facade variants or within building simulation programs. Some parts of the proposed methodology could be used in standards (e.g. EN13363) or to improve the accuracy of building simulation programs which are currently on the market. Practical experience with the new methodology led to insights which are the basis for the design of two new products. These new products are compared with state of the art products in [T.E. Kuhn, Solar control: comparsion of two new systems with the state of the art on the basis of a new general evaluation method for facades with venetian blinds or other solar control systems, Energy and Buildings, in press] on the basis of the new methodology.

Double-skin facades are assuming an ever-greater importance in modem building practice. There is an increasing demand for higher quality office buildings. Occupants and developers of office buildings ask for a healthy and stimulating working environment. Double-skin facades are appropriate when buildings are subject to great external noise and wind loads. A further area of application is in rehabilitation work, when existing facades cannot be renewed, or where this is not desirable. Double-skin facades have a special aesthetic of their own, and this can be exploited architecturally to great advantage. However, there are still relatively few buildings in which double-skin facades have actually been realized, and there is still too little experience of their behavior in operation. In this matter, we choose to study the natural ventilation in multi-storey double-skin facades. Simulations where realized with TAS software on a building proposed in the frame of the subtask A of the Task 27 (performance of solar facade components) of the International Energy Agency, Solar Heating and Cooling Program. We decide to study a sunny summer day; and we analyze the double-skin facade behavior for various conditions: impact of the double-skin orientation and impact of the wind orientation and the degree of wind protection. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

There is an increasing demand for higher quality office buildings. Occupants and developers of office buildings ask for a healthy and stimulating working environment. Double-skin facades are appropriate when buildings are subject to great external noise and wind loads. A further area of application is in rehabilitation work, when existing facades cannot be renewed, or where this is not desirable. Double-skin facades have a special esthetic of their own, and this can be exploited architecturally to great advantage. However there are still relatively few buildings in which double-skin facades have actually been realized, and there is still too little experience of their behaviour in operation. In this matter, we choose to study a multistory double-skin facades behaviour. Simulations were realized with TAS software on the building proposed in the frame of the subtask A of the Task 27 (performance of solar facade components) of the International Energy Agency. Simulations were performed on the chosen building with and without double-skin facades. We decide to study eight types of days; and we analyze the double-skin facade behaviour for various operations. The thermal behaviours of the building with and without double-skin are compared. The study of these eight cases showed the importance of the dynamic use of the double-skin. The operation of this one must be obligatorily related to the climatic conditions as well external as interior and a bad operation of the double-skin could lead to catastrophic results. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The design of a building facade influences internal thermal and lighting conditions and energy use associated with the provision of these conditions. Key decisions about the building facade are usually taken during the concept design stage of a building, while decisions about the method of providing the environmental conditions are often made later in the design process. This dilemma is addressed by the development of a concept design tool that allows the design team to investigate the effect of facade design on the resulting internal environmental conditions, energy use and environmental impact. The concept design tool was developed by performing detailed thermal, lighting and environmental modelling for a number of generic office building facade designs and a range of parameters that affect directly the environmental performance of an office building. The results are presented in a user-friendly interface requiring a minimum number of inputs. Key parameter outputs (such as temperature, lighting levels, ...

Japan is currently leading the world in many aspects of facade design and cladding technology development. Many buildings feature the latest technological and environmentally friendly concepts that...

Retrofitting of external walls and building facades of residential buildings is often considered as the most energy efficient renovation measure. This paper presents a multifunctional energy efficient facade system for multi-family apartment building retrofitting, the “Meefs” system which is still under development in a concept phase, and analyses its energetic features based on building typologies to cold climate apartment buildings in Finland and in Russia. Both in Finland and in Russia, the majorities of the apartment building stocks were built after the II World War. Major capital repairs are needed in both building stocks in the coming years. At the same time, energy efficiency of buildings could be improved which would make them more sustainable. The apartment building stocks in both countries consist of typical buildings of this construction period. Therefore prefabricated facade products, such as the “Meefs” system, could beneficially be adapted to retrofit them. In addition, as shown in this paper, the Meefs system would provide considerable energy savings. However, adapting the system to Russian buildings would require changes to building energy systems as well.

When the outer walls of buildings are retained while the main building is demolished and replaced by a new structural frame, a retained facade results. The challenges created by this method of construction are unique and this paper focuses on the technical and managerial issues relating to this approach. It identifies options for developing existing buildings ; reasons for employing retained facades; and important technical considerations which need to be addressed by designers and contractors, including temporary support, connection between facades and new structures, strengthening a facade's existing foundations and design of new foundations for these facades. Some of the major management implications of retained facades are also described. These include contractual issues, surveys, inspections and monitoring of facades, access and safety, programming and statutory control. The paper is based on case studies of contemporary construction projects, surveys of construction engineers and managers, and relevant literature.

This paper describes a new general method for building simulation programs which is intended to be used for the modelling of complex facades. The term ‘complex facades’ is used to designate facades with venetian blinds, prismatic layers, light re-directing surfaces, etc. In all these cases, the facade properties have a complex angular dependence. In addition to this, such facades very often have non-airtight layers and/or imperfect components (e.g. non-ideal sharp edges, non-flat surfaces, …). Therefore building planners often had to neglect some of the innovative features and to use ‘work-arounds’ in order to approximate the properties of complex facades in building simulation programs. A well-defined methodology for these cases was missing. This paper presents such a general methodology. The main advantage of the new method is that it only uses measureable quantities of the transparent or translucent part of the facade as a whole. This is the main difference in comparison with state of the art modelling based on the characteristics of the individual subcomponents, which is often impossible due to non-existing heat- and/or light-transfer models within the complex facade. It is shown that the new method can significantly increase the accuracy of heating/cooling loads and room temperatures.

Whether you are looking at high performance facade components as part of building “green” or more traditionally from a weather barrier perspective, facade systems remain one of the most important aspects of a building design, and often one of the most problematic. Building facades involve a unique combination and integration of manufacturing, design, construction, and maintenance to perform as expected. Advances in technology and materials have made available an expanded number of system options that provide the owner and designer with additional cost and performance choices. While new choices are welcomed by the industry, the importance of proper design and execution remains as important as ever. This is true for all building types from single family residential construction with siding or brick cavity walls, to commercial and institutional construction with traditional masonry facades and punch through windows, to modern high performance curtain walls. While new buildings are important because they set the tone for the future, existing structures and their facades are subjected to a multitude of factors including aging, weathering, structural damage from severe environmental impacts, and, unfortunately, in some cases, mistakes of the past such as inadequate design and construction. Those who believe in an integrated architectural engineering AE approach to building design and construction will likely agree that AE as a profession is well situated to advance the art and science of design and construction of facades for new buildings, as well as investigation and repair of existing building facades. Unfortunately, as a profession, we do not always take full advantage of that potential. In addition to meeting the general requirements of model codes such as the International Building Code IBC and the required structural loads from ASCE-7 and similar standards, proper facade design for new or retrofit/repair situations necessitates a review of a number of important issues including, but not limited to, the following: 1. Overall energy issues including heat gain and loss and how they impact the design and control of the building’s mechanical systems. 2. Acoustics and sound control, especially in urban environments. 3. Natural ventilation as appropriate to the climate and location of the building. 4. Indoor air quality and the relationship to items such as ventilation quantities, vapor drive, and tightness of the envelope leakage rates . 5. Incorporation of a properly designed and constructed envelope including roof system that integrates best practice

One of the crucial problems that faces designers, construction managers, general contractors, and subcontractors is creating the most appealing facade of a building at the most cost-effective price, while satisfying an owner’s goal of exploiting the enclosed space to maximum advantage. A brick facade has long been considered a durable and aesthetic solution for the exterior walls. A stud wall with gypsum board sheathing is today’s most economical and widely used interior perimeter material. The development of innovative construction techniques that combine this exterior facade with interior perimeter materials in the most cost-effective and time-effective manner is the object of continuing trial and error. The industrialization of construction components has long been considered but, as yet, is not widely used, although its future appears bright. This paper analyzes the advantages of a semi-prefabricated facade based on specific experience.

Journal of Green Building 1 BACKGROUND Sustainability issues have been the focus of building design for decades. Major international agreements like the Kyoto protocol have pointed out the importance of reducing energy consumption related CO2 emissions. It has become obvious that buildings consume a large amount of energy worldwide and thus bear the greatest potential for energy savings. The OECD project on sustainable buildings for the future identifi ed fi ve objectives for sustainable buildings (John 2005)