Bio-based Adaptive skins: Investigating the impact of using shape-morphing skins on the energy consumption of administrative buildings

Abstract

: Recent research indicates that by employing adaptive architectural skins, energy consumption can be significantly reduced, as building skins are regarded as a boundary line between external and internal conditions and play the primary role in regulating energy consumption in buildings and preserving internal comfort. In architecture, smart materials with intrinsic properties that vary in response to different material-specific inputs or operating conditions are becoming widely researched. As they accumulate sensors and actuators that allow them to detect a stimulus, respond to it in a controlled manner, and return to their initial condition when the stimulus is removed . Accordingly, the main aim of this research is to investigate the viability of using smart materials in building skins in Egypt and how this will affect the energy consumption of buildings using a biomimetic approach. This approach suggests a compact, silent, lightweight dynamic building panel with simple actuation components. A performance comparison between the proposed shape morphing skin and a base case meeting room indicates that energy consumption can be reduced by 43%. These substantial results indicate that adaptive façades have the potential to improve building energy efficiency.