a b s t r a c tDuring the last decades, a great number of innovative building envelope materials and façade components have been developed. The majority of these technologies promise significant improvements in energy efficiency and occupant's comfort, with products that are easily available in the market. However, it remains a challenge to assess the performance of such facades, leading to difficulties for efficient design, operation, and maintenance. As a consequence, the market adoption of adaptive facades is not realizing its full potential, resulting in missed opportunities for energy savings and improved occupant satisfaction. In this study, the current trends of adaptive facades are investigated, with particular emphasis on their performance assessment. Based on extensive literature review, the gaps in assessment of adaptive facades are determined and a novel object-based façade characterization and classification framework is proposed. Furthermore, a generic stakeholder map and process map are presented to explain current adaptive façade delivery practices. In addition, the findings of interviews and two focus group discussions with experts and specialists are presented to elucidate their expert opinions, leading to a validated framework of key performance indicators. As results of this paper, the gaps related to adaptive façade systems' assessment are identified with respect to the different actors and stakeholders, and insights and perspectives on current trends and future challenges of adaptive façade system assessment are provided.

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Safety issues within the construction industry have been an area of concern in almost every country. In this paper, an objective and quantitative accident probability calculation approach is proposed using 623 actual construction accidents that resulted in 681 casualties between the years 2000 and 2013. Of these accidents, the first five account for 84.1% of all fatalities and 85.4% of all injuries. In total, five construction jobs (excavation, reinforced concrete work, masonry, plastering and painting, and roof work) were the focus of the study, as they account for 70.8% of all occurrences. Probability values were calculated by using the Poisson distribution, in which accident rates and exposure values were used as distribution parameters. In an industry where accidents are recorded according to non-specific standards, it is very difficult to represent the probability of accidents within a known distribution model. The proposed approach in this paper provides an objective method to obtain probabilities by using the Poisson distribution for construction accidents.

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