Sun-Powered Smart Facade Keeps Offices Cooler, Automatically

Apr-12-15 A "smart facade" that will respond to heat and activate to shade a building's interiors could help reduce the amount of money spent to control the temperature inside today's glass-fronted office buildings.

Developed by researchers at Fraunhofer in cooperation with art student Bára Finnsdottir, the facade is made up of an array of flower-shaped, fabric modules. Each module has been embedded with shape-memory actuators made of wires of a nickel-titanium alloy that will return to its original shape when exposed to heat. When the sun warms the facade, the wires will respond and cause the fabric modules to contract and block the sun. As the day cools, the wires will trigger the modules to become transparent once again.

The system has been designed primarily for use on large windows, and can be fitted to existing windows as well as made in a wide range of configurations.

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[GIZMAG.COM]
[FRAUNHOFER.DE]

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