A Novel Composite Material for Foldable Building Envelopes

Abstract

Contemporary research is increasingly focused on studying buildings that either interact with environmental boundaries or adapt themselves to their users’ needs. In the current literature, this kind of ability is given different names: responsivity, adaptability, smartness. These are different ways to refer to a common concept, with subtle nuances. Foldable surfaces are one of the most interesting geometries able to give responsivity to building components, but often their production is complex and expensive. The aim of this research was the creation of a novel material that can provide lightweight solutions for foldable building envelopes. This composite material can be folded and unfolded easily, like a sheet of paper, but with a higher mechanical performance. It is made with the thermoplastic elastomer SEBS (styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene) as its matrix, as well as a fabric reinforcement. In this paper, following an introduction to this subject, the authors present the composite material’s production methods and its mechanical characterization.

SLICE: An Innovative Photovoltaic Solution for Adaptive Envelope Prototyping and Testing in a Relevant Environment

“…The mechanical tests carried out evidenced that the composite material had properties comparable with those of the composite materials commonly used in textile architecture (Rodonò et al, 2019). The proposed device was equipped with photovoltaic cells, which generated the power requested for its handling under stand-alone applications.…”

“…The first phase of this research project addressed the design of the earliest prototype at a 1:1 scale (Figure 7) called SLICE 1.0, which consisted of a simple fold sample whose dimensions were 20cm × 40 cm and a weight of 139 g, made with an EVA matrix (inner and outer layer), fiberglass reinforcement, two photovoltaic monocrystalline silicon cells, and a protection layer of PVF. Only the operating cycles of the components were investigated [8].…”

“…Therefore, the building envelope can be designed "as part of a holistic building metabolism and morphology, and will often be connected to other parts of the building, including sensors, actuators and command wires from the building management system" [2]. The large-scale diffusion of open-source devices, like Arduino, has enforced the research in the field of kinetic architecture, which is characterized by a high degree of flexibility linked to both the flexibility of use, concerning the relationship between man and architecture, and the temporal one (i.e., in the architecture-environment interaction) [3][4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

“…Therefore, the façade brings the ability to add new functions, such as new solutions to reduce energy costs [12] or improve the production of renewable energy [1,[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. In this way, the façade has been transformed into a very complex system, surpassing the traditional concepts.…”

Experimental Study on the Thermal Behavior of Exterior Coating Textures of Building in Hot and Arid Climates

“…Thus, these interventions can also be used in other regions of Europe with similar climatic conditions. Rodonò et al [21], in turn, presented a method for the production of composite materials and their mechanical and physical characterization; the objective of this research was to create a new composite material that could be folded and unfolded easily in order to give lightweight solutions for exterior building envelopes.…”