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) low…
151 results
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Adaptive Facades
Facade engineering aims at appropriately balancing the demands imposed by the context and the capabilities inherent to the materials, the geometries …
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Silicone Spandrel Glass Opacifiers
Curtain wall design commonly uses insulating glass units for vision and spandrel glazing to provide better visual harmonization of building facade gl…
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Addressing Embodied Carbon
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the building sector is critical to limiting global temperature rise to less than 1.5⁰C. Construction and build…
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Condensation Study of Windows
This paper discusses a simulation study of different window systems, where heat transfer simulations were performed to investigate thermal performanc…
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Infinite Panel System
Today, building facades are expected to do much more than merely provide shelter, which is driving the need for higher performing envelope solutions.…
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The Tectonics of Flimsiness
Architecture has traditionally celebrated the joining of two building components or materials. Joinery serves as a key site for architectural express…
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Carbon-Neutral High-Rise Envelope Nexus
The pathway to carbon-neutrality, as urged during the COP 21 in Paris, and the repeated goal for resilient buildings and urban habitats, winds right …
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Thinking About Facades
There have been three decades of liberating developments in the application of descriptive geometry and freeform design methods, as well as the abili…
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Adaptive Building Envelope
Designing a multi-functional building envelope as an architectural façade, environmental interface and solar collector is a multi-objective explorati…
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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…
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Facade Games
This paper provides an overview of a course focusing on the façade as taught to architecture students over a twenty-year period. The need for this s…
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Fire Safety and Code Challenges for Mass Timber in Curtain Wall Systems
With the desire for more sustainable construction and reduced embodied energy, mass timber is being explored for building structures. For medium and …
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From Design to Experiment
Flat cable-net facades are form-active structures which provide maximum transparency by means of point fixing components, tensioned cables, and struc…
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The Thermal Blanket Concept
This paper tells the story of a Double Skin Facade (DSF), where high performance and multi-disciplinary collaboration saves a library concept of open…
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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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U-Factor Matters in Hot Climates
It is commonly thought that fenestration U-factor is not a key determinant in the performance of facades in hot climates, and generally the focus of …
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The Myth of Simplicity
There were good why reasons early US Modernism first evolved in California– wide open sites with no constraints (physical or zoning), and effectively…
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Ballistic and Blast Integrated Design
Increased security needs have led to a demand in enhanced curtain wall facade performance. In addition to thermal, acoustic, and structural requireme…
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Determination of Interlayer Structural Properties for Use in Laminated Glass Design
We have seen rapid expansion in the last decade of laminated glass design using modern analytical and computational methods. Essential to the proper …