INTELLIGENT FACADES

Façade design is evolving to a finely controlled process dependent on information and technology and leaning towards data-driven design, dictated by information and number of other imperatives, especially the selection of greener materials. Agith G Antony takes a peek into the changing trends in design and use of innovative materials.

Facade of a building has remained undoubtedly the most important from the perspective of both the designers as well as the developers, as it sets the first impression of the building. Many architects and designers are experimenting with symbolising forms and complex patterns, and also leveraging the benefits of newer materials and technologies creating intelligent facades to meet the sustainable goals -which is all about reducing the footprint - using smarter materials, optimising design and layout, and reducing long-term costs. With advent of new trends façade solutions have become more performance-centric.

Performance-Centric Facades

One of the biggest factors contributing to the growing popularity of performance-centric facades is their ability to drastically reduce energy consumption. Facades are now valued for their performance, not just their aesthetic and this has driven innovation and adaptation of façade technology to innovative tech such as BIPV, thermal shading etc. that are being experimented with, across the world. Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited in one of their projects - Intellion Edge project in Gurugram - successfully used a façade system called Exterior Insulation Finishing System (EIFS) in order to increase thermal efficiency. “The EIFS provides thermal insulation wrap around the building mitigates heat gain and cuts down the cooling loads within, thus resulting in significant energy and cost savings as well as reduced turnaround times. Increasing consciousness amongst the educated populace is pushing the real estate sector to work towards Net Zero projects, both in terms of water and energy,” states Supriya Ambavane, Vice President - Head Design, Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited.

Says Ar. Sumit Dhawan, Cityspace '82 Architects, “A façade acts as a calling card of a building. Reflecting the nature of an architecture project, it is the most recognizable and acknowledged feature of a structure that becomes a part of the collective imagery of the human mind. Therefore, it is a mandate for a facade to be aesthetically pleasing. At the same time it is also important for a built form to be performance-oriented. For instance, instead of introducing a metal cladding in a single skin facade system, a double skin facade system can be considered as they integrate insulation properties keeping the indoor environment comfortable irrespective of the outdoor climate.” 

“Adaptive and environment responsive façade designs have become the need globally where we have to see solar heat gain, day lighting and micro climate of building in response to the respective climatic conditions. This enables to reduce the consumption of electricity and subsequently the power bills are reduced. There are several intangible performance analysis which shows increased comfort and enhanced performance of the occupants,” says Ms. Ruchi Mishra, Business Head- Design & Interiors, New Modern Buildwell Pvt Ltd.

“Facades play an important role in driving building performance, engaging with the external environment, significantly enhancing durability and reducing energy consumption. In commercial projects, performance-centric facades can allow for a reduction in peak cooling loads and thus provide the opportunity to implement a smaller HVAC system and / or a low-energy alternative, which can translate into increased energy savings, reduced initial costs, and HVAC system operation and maintenance savings. In residential projects, they have the potential to redirect and filter daylight, provide natural ventilation, manage heat transfer, enhance the productivity of occupants, create visual and physical connections between inside and outside, and most importantly, reducing operating costs of a building,” states Gurjot Bhatia, Managing Director, Project Management, CBRE India, Middle East and North Africa. “The idea is to maximise the benefits of energy-saving and provide comfort to people by eliminating sun radiations inside. Ventilated facades market has the largest market share owing to the factors such as heat ventilation and soundproofing,” adds Bhatia.

Smarter & Environment-Adaptive Designs

Today architects and designers have technologies that enable them to imagine and experiment unique forms and complex designs of buildings. These advanced softwares help them to study the behaviour of any façade, be it solar study, wind analysis, various load analysis, disaster study and finally construction scheduling even before the building construction starts.

These technologies have enabled us to collaborate and analyse the behaviour of any building and provide fully coordinated drawings at site, usually we release 3D interactive model which enables the site engineers to view and understand the virtual building itself at site.

The recent developments in computation technology and the availability of diverse software and coding platforms have provided the tools to identify problems and develop unique design solutions. Parametric design and computational design are widely used in India now and with respect to facade design they can aid in developing smarter facades that can perform a multitude of tasks in an optimized way. The use of these tools creates vast possibilities of controlling performance-based factors.

Computational design is the application of computational strategies to the design process. While designers traditionally rely on intuition and experience to solve design problems, computational design aims to enhance that process by encoding design decisions using a computer language. The goal is not to document the final result necessarily, but rather the steps required to create that result. There are numerous computational design softwares such as Microstation, Lumen, Rhino or Revit. The architects today tend to play with abstract forms with the help of these softwares which is not possible manually. Computational designs confer onto a different feel altogether where the structure is no more a conventional or an orthogonal building.

BIM 5D, BIM Docs and Revit have been the pioneers in computational design. They are used extensively by designers and builders alike to efficiently use materials' timelines and resources for an integrated approach to all the facets of a building. Going forward, data gathering, analysis and interpretation of the data to constantly improve the performance of spaces and facades is a major trend that is already gaining momentum.

Greener & Energy Efficient Materials

Alternative building materials have slowly been replacing natural materials today. These engineered mediums offer durability and longevity to the built forms as they do not require maintenance. These mediums come with colour and texture options. Most of the engineered materials integrate zero absorption level and no requirement of enhancers, sealers, finishes or other treatments. 

Says Ashwani Khanna, AVP Marketing, FunderMax, “Cladding market is now mature and is filled with new and innovative options. For more than a decade, glass, stone, wood, metal / ACP has always been the conventional choice of material for exterior cladding. Times have changed, modern and innovative materials such as exterior grade laminates, (as per EN438-6), fibre reinforced concrete, metal claddings (zinc, copper, and steel) are creating a healthy disruption in the market.”

Many company offices today seek green certified products and building design. They are ready to go the extra mile to explore and experiment with newer cladding systems, and this has significantly increased the market demand for efficient cladding materials.The Max Lato series from FunderMax is a new-age shading system that has slats for enhancing visual and thermal comfort of occupants. It is an effective way to prevent solar heat gain and reduce air conditioning loads as well. “Made of Max Exterior panels of FunderMax this can be fixed at any position according to the building location - a passive architectural solution that comes with a multitude of installation possibilities. This helps in making a building more in-tune with the weather and climatic conditions of the region,” confirms Khanna. 

“uPVC is one of the most preferred material of the future with multiple unique qualities from the perspective of quality, durability, efficiency, performance, aesthetics, sustainability and several others. However, if we look at trends, despite similar climatic conditions, both UAE and UK have a diverse facade market. One has the tallest structures in the world while the other has relatively low-rise buildings, but both have a keen eye on the specification for corrosion-resistance building facades. Considering the height and weather conditions in UAE, specifications are more scoped towards thermal insulation and wind cycles. While in UK, uPVC product material is more popular,” says Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chairman - Anarock Property Consultants.

According to Bhatia of CBRE in recent times, the high-pressure laminate is increasingly gaining acceptance. After the revision of National Building code, people are looking at fire rated Aluminium Composite Panel (ACP) and solid aluminium sheet cladding in the place of normal ACP. When it comes to glass, the latest trend is sage glass, which can be converted into graphic screens with the click of a remote button.  In addition to this, screen printing on the glasses of facade is also gaining traction.

Beyond Just Being Glossy

Glass has been an integral part of architecture for centuries now. As Anand Santhanam, Head - Sales & Marketing, Saint-Gobain India - Glass Business smilingly puts it,when it comes to facades, one can say that the two are a match made in heaven. Facades are literally, the face of a building and few materials have the capability to leave a lasting impression like glass. Glass can be as classic as it can be contemporary. It can be transparent or translucent, plain or decorative, light or heavy, and can be easily adapted, whatever be the need. Over the years, glass has evolved to suit the requirements of modern day living. It enhances comfort, extends protection, enables ease of maintenance, ensures wellbeing and helps us to embrace sustainability.

One of the greatest USPs of glass is its ability to address both form as well as function.  From being a sustainable raw material to an eco-friendly end-product, glass ticks all the boxes when it comes to walking the talk of sustainability. Says Santhanam, “Our digitally devised tools like GlassPro Live, BIM and Signature Facades can definitely be leveraged to create intelligent facades. Going a notch up, our SageGlass dynamic glass is now able to integrate with Amazon Echo to provide occupants with a more user-friendly experience while helping to streamline operational efficiencies. Occupants can now control the dynamic glass' tint via simple voice commands to optimize daylight and outdoor views while preventing heat gain and glare. This offering is expected to be integrated into larger building management systems so building owners and facilities managers can manage SageGlass along with other voice-enabled products in the building. Occupants can use commands like “Alexa, ask SageGlass to reduce glare,” or “Alexa, ask SageGlass to let the warm sunshine in,” and watch the glass tint in accordance with the command.”

Adds Santhanam, “While these are the happening products at the moment, our research teams are constantly reinventing themselves to come up with new products and solutions that will positively impact our wellbeing.” 

Moving Ahead

The design of is becoming more responsive to the geographical location, climatic conditions, type and use of buildings, social and cultural aspects, which has made it imperative for designers and developers to hunt for better material and designs and adoption of newer technologies. Use of leading-edge technologies is playing a huge role in bringing transformation in the segment, and facades are becoming more complex, dynamic, and interactive, with more focus towards sustainability and operational cost-effectiveness. Technologies like Building Integrated Photo Voltaic (BIPV) are helping in designing intelligent facade that react to the external climatic conditions. Use of CAD software has traditionally contributed to increasing efficiency, accuracy, and coordination, but BIM and parametric software are now taking efficiency and coordination to new levels.

As Ambavane sums it up” Going forward, data gathering, analysis and interpretation of the data to constantly improve the performance of spaces and facades will be a major trend that is already gaining momentum.

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