Kinetic Facades : Future Of Hi-Tech Office Buildings

Abstract

Buildings use 40% of worldwide electricity generated and are responsible for one third of greenhouse gases being produced. India is 6^th largest carbon dioxide producer in the world. As the economy grows, there is increase in commercial and business activities. Commercial buildings are responsible for about 7% of the total electricity consumption in the country. Lighting and air conditioning consume 80% of energy in offices. Also, over 80 % of greenhouse gas emissions take place during these operational activities. In addition to it, buildings emit non –CO₂ gases like halocarbons, CFCs, and HCFCs and hydro fluorocarbons during cooling, refrigeration, etc. Many technological innovations have been made to make building operations cost effective and energy efficient [1]. High cost of construction of energy efficient buildings and continuous increase in electricity rates for commercial buildings has made it imperative to study various components of a corporate building and their role in energy efficiency. Building envelopes form an important part of a building and influence all the parameters of human existence. A building envelope has multiple functions and thus each of these functions needs its own mechanism. In addition to energy efficiency, a building envelope should meet the user comfort requirements [2]. Thus a multi-functional building envelope needs to be adaptive to the changing external environmental stimuli and function autonomously without human interference.

This paper is focused on multi-functional building envelopes and development of kinetic facades around the world.