Architectural and aesthetic integration of BIPV/BAPV/PVT solutions

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Products/Technical solution, Technologies and Building systems

DESCRIPTION:

The integration of technical systems, such as solar thermal and photovoltaic solutions, in the vertical building envelope. The experimentation of new solutions – accompanied by new European standards on integrated building envelopes developed by the scientific community and partnerships between the PV industries and the glass sector – has had important repercussions aesthetically and architecturally, resulting in a new generation of architecture representative of green deal challenges.

BUSINESS ROUTE

Target Users

Architects, Constructors, Local authorities, Policy makers and regulating authorities, Research community

VALUE

Since the turn of the century, energy efficiency objectives in Europe have conditioned architectural concepts from a morphological point of view, starting from the surface-shape relationship of buildings, and today the new forms of integration between building and energy production systems are creating opportunities for developing a new aesthetic, technological and construction language. Incorporating a prefabricated envelope system and an industrialised product allows for a relationship between the various components, including the technical energy systems (PV, HVAC, etc.). Driving the production process of the BIPV envelope system in off-site industrialised architectures makes it possible to analyse, with greater control, the possible strategies for integration of the various plant systems and transparent or opaque envelope components, with adequate verification of performance compared to standard on-site construction practices. It can also facilitate economies of scale in planning the final cost of the product, an aspect that today constitutes a deterrent to experimentation in many European countries.

APPLICATION

In the ARV project, this solution was developed as part of the ecosystem of the Province of Trento, where the companies in the building sector are strongly oriented towards the development of industrialized products and off-site solutions for architecture, in particular engineered wood components sector. The PVT (PhotoVoltaic Thermal technology) solutions can be adapted to both the new construction market and the redevelopment of the existing building stock through modifications of the envelope layers. Customisation is easier if the component production processes are industrialised. The PVT solutions starting from different market and design needs, can either be a repeatable “wall module” to define an envelope system or be integrated within the window system. This can accelerate the shift of the BIPV/PVT market from today’s dry construction system towards a system of three-dimensional industrialized components belonging to Industry 4.0 patterns, which increasingly involve the construction sector. The innovation is currently patent pending and refers to a prefabricated PVT module ready to be integrated into the building envelope as an active façade system offering considerable adaptability to the various structural configurations of the façade. Several full-scale mock-ups of the module have been produced to analyse the technical solutions and start testing the physical module’s behaviour.