Iconic Buildings
The iconic building principal incentive is to be visually attractive or stand out, for this purpose three main features must be accomplished: have a …
233 results
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Effect of Thermal Bridging on Buildings' Energy Performance
Heat transfer through building facades can occur by any combinations of conduction, convection, and/or radiation. Conductive heat transfer depends on…
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Novel Active Facade Systems and Their Energy Performance in Commercial Buildings
This article presents results of a research study that focuses on understanding energy performance of novel facade systems that integrate thermoelect…
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Performance-based Facade Framework
Buildings have a considerable impact on the environment, and it is crucial to consider environmental and energy performance in building design. Build…
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Passive House Facade Design and Construction
Buildings account for over 40% of global emissions (GlobalABC, 2018). Growing populations and higher standards of living are increasing pressure on t…
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Lightning Protection as Building Envelope
A building’s envelope mitigates the effects of meteorological phenomena – including lightning – upon the structure and its occupants and contents. Th…
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City Development and Cladding Design
High-rise buildings in growing cities could become more vulnerable to variations in wind flow due to the continuous changes in urban topology. The ae…
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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 citie…
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Orbit Tower
While most of high-rise buildings feature a core surrounded by a spatial frame defining the volume, one could envision a column-free plan where the p…
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Adaptable Glazing Shields
Today, about 40% of all buildings in the U.S. still have single-pane windows, and ~70% of the existing building stock is estimated to suffer from und…
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Building Scale Mock-up
Until recently, Google has occupied buildings that were designed for others and modified the interiors to suit its needs. Many of the improvements we…
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Bringing an Icon Into the Future: Willis Tower
Few buildings are as iconic as Willis Tower. Generations of Chicagoans have a collective memory of this building playing a role in their entire lives…
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Designing with Photovoltaics
Photovoltaics (PV) have been utilized in buildings for decades, especially in Europe where legislative support has largely driven the market. With ne…
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Form Follows Well-Being
Recent planning recognizes a growing demand for buildings that provide higher levels of occupant well-being. Often, well-being in buildings is reduce…
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Facade Expansion Joint Systems
As awareness around the seismic performance of buildings grows, it is becoming increasingly necessary to integrate seismic expansion joint cover syst…
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Retrofit Options for Historic Facades
Building design criteria requires that government buildings be designed for a variety of extreme loads including blast, hurricane, and impact conditi…
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Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Steven Holl Architects designed two new buildings in the Museum District in Houston, Texas. Knippers Helbig is the facade consultant of both projects…
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Detailing For Distance
Quickly exceeding new facade service life expectations for tall buildings imposed by increasing environmental, economic, and social pressures have cr…
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Passively Actuated Systems
Kinetic or responsive facades have been developed to improve buildings' daylighting conditions while mitigating energy consumption. Still, these faca…
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Structuring Skin
Curtain wall is the prevailing type of enclosure on modern buildings because of its economy, its independence from structure that allows flexibility …