Innovative Double Skin Façade (DSF) with High Performance Green Hybrid Fiber-Reinforced Concrete (HP-G-HyFRC) for Resilient and Sustainable Buildings

Abstract

Buildings are an integral part of the broader civil infrastructure that ensures our welfare, livelihood, safety, and security. However, the sector also represents a burden to the society. Globally, building sector accounts for about 40% of total primary energy use. Natural disasters such as windstorms or earthquakes can cost billions of dollars in damages to structural and non-structural components of buildings. In this study, a resilient and sustainable building envelope is proposed through an innovative air-cavity double-skin façade (DSF) system constructed with a new concrete composite called high performance green hybrid fiber-reinforced concrete (HP-G-HyFRC). Flexural test results show that the proposed DSF system has a higher structural capacity and ductility as compared to a typical solid façade system. Energy modelling shows that the DSF system reduces heating and cooling energy by 16.5%. Also, the higher embodied energy of the system can be recovered within the first year of operation while the additional cost within the first 7 years of operation. Enhancing the thermal resistance of the DSF by using expanded polystyrene in place of air further reduces operational energy and return period.

Exploring the Common Ground of Sustainability and Resilience in the Building Sector: A Systematic Literature Review and Analysis of Building Rating Systems

“…[38,41,44,[67][68][69][70][71][72]74,77,78,81] and Material Effectiveness [40,47,63,66,[73][74][75][76]) from the selected records resulted from the literature review and selected records (keywords found in the records belonging to each thematic category in yellow stickers, research articles in light blue ones, review articles in blue ones, and conference papers in black ones). [38,41,44,[67][68][69][70][71][72]74,77,78,81] and Material Effectiveness [40,47,63,66,[73][74][75][76]) from the selected records resulted from the literature review and selected records (keywords found in the records belonging to each thematic category in yellow stickers, research articles in light blue ones, review articles in blue ones, and conference papers in black ones). [41,48,75,…”

“…Figure A2. Clusters (specifically Indoor Comfort[38,41,44,[67][68][69][70][71][72]74,77,78,81] and Material Effectiveness[40,47,63,66,[73][74][75][76]) from the selected records resulted from the literature review and selected records (keywords found in the records belonging to each thematic category in yellow stickers, research articles in light blue ones, review articles in blue ones, and conference papers in black ones).…”

Multi-Disciplinary Characteristics of Double-Skin Facades for Computational Modeling Perspective and Practical Design Considerations

“…Building motion from a discomfort as well as a structural and mechanical performance level/perspective has been studied to determine if DSFs can aid in these issues for tall buildings [15,106,107]. Other multi-disciplinary studies have looked at the materiality of DSFs in relation to sustainability [107,108]. These are important areas of research as designers are required to study more than just energy; for example, embodied carbon is another design factor.…”

“…Alongside modeling for structural performance, a holistic approach is needed to evaluate embodied energy, operational energy, and recurring embodied energy resulting from maintenance [8] and for sustainability [108]. Designers may consider Life Cycle Analysis and embodied carbon as a way to appraise design performance [183].…”