INVOLUCRO - CNR-ISSMC

Innovative, adaptive and sustainable systems for the building envelope with high energy and acoustic performance

Principal investigator: Chiara Zanelli
Involved personnel: Michele Dondi, Guia Guarini, Chiara Molinari
Starting date: 21/06/2017
Duration: 36 months
Total funding: 1.402.836,25 €
Call: POR-FESR Emilia Romagna 2014-2020
Coordinator: Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna – CIRI EC
Consortium: CNR-ISTEC (Faenza, RA); CIRI EC (Centri Interdipartimentali di Ricerca Industriale dell’Università di Bologna); Centroceramico (Bologna); Certimac (Faenza, RA), LARCOICOS (Lab. Ricerca Costruzioni).
Involved companies: Aliva S.r.l.; CIR AMBIENTE S.p.a.; IMOLA TECNICA S.r.l.

The project aims to radically innovate the traditional ventilated facade system, transforming it into an intelligent membrane capable of dynamically adapting to environmental conditions and producing energy to achieve increased energy and acoustic performance.

The basis of the system is the ventilated facade. In the summer, the external coating protects the building from direct sunlight; the circulation of air inside the cavity reduces the transmission of heat towards the inside.

During the winter, the air gap (with blocked ventilation) allows you to increase solar inputs by decreasing the building’s energy needs and improving internal comfort. The control of air circulation in the interspace will be carried out by automatic devices capable of acting on the ventilation grids and rotating the cladding sheets. High solar reflectance index (SRI) ceramic slabs will be used. The reduction of the summer heat load will improve internal comfort and reduce consumption for cooling. To increase thermal inertia, phase change materials (PCM) encapsulated on the inside of the cladding panels will be used. Thus excess heat, not disposed of by ventilation, can be accumulated during the hours in which the temperature is high (daytime period), to be released in the hours when the temperature is lower (nighttime period). To increase the share of energy self-sufficiency, the vertical facade surface integrates photovoltaic (PV) panels. The circulation of air inside the cavity, thanks also to the rotation of the panels around an axis, determines an increase in the efficiency of the panels by reducing their surface temperature. The control of the acoustic performance of the facade will be implemented thanks to special hooking systems that reduce the vibrations transmitted to the internal wall.