Energy consumption in buildings account for approximately 40 per cent of the global energy consumption and regulations are getting ever stricter in an effort to meet targets set at international and national level. Ultimately, near zero carbon emission buildings will become the norm and this puts pressure on the building envelope to perform to higher standards than current practice.
In a time of ever stricter energy codes, high performance is seen as a means to an end – Empowering the Designer to deliver high quality architecture with low environmental impact. We are talking about Design Freedom.
Novel solutions include architectural panels – robust products which can be handled during assembly and installation. The technology is that of insulating glazing with vacuum insulation panel (VIP) inserts offering enhanced thermal insulation in compact units. The finish is optional and the thickness is driven by performance requirements. Or – as is often the case – the solutions offer maximum thermal insulation where a thin envelope is desired or required. Potentially the thermal performance of a conventional wall is achieved within the space of a conventional glazing unit opening up new opportunities for architectural design. The first projects have been realised already, spanning from retrofitting of historical buildings with architectural and space constraints, to new build rain screen cladding solutions with high performance.
The fact that vacuum insulation panels offer the performance of a conventional insulated wall contained in a glazing unit opens up new architectural avenues and breaks down some of the barriers otherwise posed by stricter energy regulations. Examples of design freedom offered by high performance include the ability to increase the percentage of vision area, additional play with geometry such as layout and 3D form language – all due to enhanced performance in the insulated areas, offsetting the performance of vision area, increased transmission area, and linear thermal losses.
In a time where the energy performance of buildings needs to be addressed not only by visionary designers and clients, but across the board, the challenge is to not sacrifice high design freedom and quality architecture. The performance of curtain walling has been enhanced incrementally over the past decades and it is reaching certain limits mainly due to the need for vision area and the inevitable effect of the framing. Well, a step change in insulation performance may quite possibly offer new opportunities for curtain walling in a world of High Performance Building.
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