99 results

  • Structural Skin

    Many prominent, recent buildings feature forms suggesting structural surface while their enclosures are really non-load-bearing curtain wall. At the…
  • Terra Cotta Skins

    This paper will address the potential of ornamental architectural terracotta surfaces to mitigate the effects of climate fluctuations that will

  • Put Your Sweater On!

    During the particularly cold first months of 1977 President Jimmy Carter, in what some call “The Sweater Speech,” famously noted how much energy

  • Hydrophobic Stainless Steel Surfaces

    There is no doubting the longevity of stainless steel building facades. The Chrysler Building and numerous buildings that followed have stood the

  • Deconstructing the Window featured image

    Deconstructing the Window

    Over the years, the industry has relied heavily on the increasing performance of low-e coatings to drive window U-factors (thermal transmittance)…
  • Curved Forming Panel Facades featured image

    Curved Forming Panel Facades

    The performative and visual aspects of curved forming/bending thin “formable” planar materials is explored. Early tests for deflection indicate that…
  • Saving Face

    In 1871, a fourth level Architecture course was offered in New York City that instructed on topics such as heating, ventilation and circulation of

  • Climate-Oriented Prefabricated Building Envelopes

    Facades developed in response to climactic factors increase performance and human comfort while reducing energy loads. A single building envelope

  • Integrated Energy Analysis

    Energy codes across the country are progressively getting stricter and increasing the threshold for a baseline building’s energy performance.

  • Thermal Performance of Closed Cavity Facades

    Closed cavity facades (CCF), a configuration of Double Skin Facade (DSF), consists of a double-glazed unit on the inner layer and single glazing on

  • Carbon Lean Facades featured image

    Carbon Lean Facades

    With net zero and carbon neutral mandates on the near horizon, New York City has pushed the green building envelope by leveraging incentive-based…
  • Green Façade/Roofs Design Tool featured image

    Green Façade/Roofs Design Tool

    Climate change and related thermal issues, draw attention to the impact of green facades and roofs on energy savings and thermal comfort. Besides, by…
  • Vintage Vinyl featured image

    Vintage Vinyl

    Mid-century through 1980’s buildings with lock-strip or “zipper-gasket” glazing systems are an ever present part of the urban landscape in many…
  • A Compact, Unitized Double Skin Facade featured image

    A Compact, Unitized Double Skin Facade

    Driven by an increasing demand for high thermal and acoustic performance, transparency, and low maintenance costs, a number of facade innovations…
  • OpenFacadeControl

    Automated facades are, for the most part, still considered as separate from other building systems throughout the design, installation,…
  • Shaping Skin featured image

    Shaping Skin

    The conventional modern facade is essentially flat, which creates the tendency toward visual monotony and problems for modulating daylight—both on…
  • Highly Efficient Façades with Innovative Shading and Light Control featured image

    Highly Efficient Façades with Innovative Shading and Light Control

    The Science and Engineering Complex (SEC) on the Allston Campus is the largest new building at Harvard University in recent decades with a footprint…
  • Designing with Photovoltaics featured image

    Designing with Photovoltaics

    Photovoltaics (PV) have been utilized in buildings for decades, especially in Europe where legislative support has largely driven the market. With…