The façade's adaptation to climate conditions creates changes in the building's energy balance through convection flow, radiation and energy storage. Among the building envelope technologies that enhance the envelope’s function through solar energy gains, “ climate-adaptative building shells” offer the opportunity to activate buildings against climate change. Ongoing research is taking place in the area of supercool and smart materials, which can stay several degrees cooler than ambient temperature even in direct sunlight and thereby reduce cooling needs inside the building, with particularly promising results in hot and dry climates.Īdaptive building envelope systems, including control and automation technology, are on the rise. This solution is particularly interesting for areas that previously would have remained uninsulated due to insufficient space. vacuum insulation panels and silica aerogel, can offer additional economic benefits by creating additional usable space and hence increasing the financial value of the building. But innovation is also taking place in building envelope materials and components, for instance to reduce the thickness of insulation, resulting in a product five times more efficient than traditional insulation. Improvements in building envelope performance have helped reduce space heating intensities by 10% since 2010, but more needs to be done, especially in warmer (and warming) regionsīuilding envelope solutions are well known, such as energy-efficient insulation and fenestration. Progress in space cooling efficiency (from both improved envelope performance and air-conditioning equipment) is particularly needed due to growing demand.Īlthough all countries will need to implement mandatory building energy codes within the next decade to align with Net Zero Scenario milestones, many have still to make them an explicit policy priority. ![]() To align with the Net Zero Scenario, the final energy intensity of space heating and cooling need to fall considerably, by at least 40% and 30% respectively in 2030 compared to today. Global space cooling service demand has increased in both advanced and emerging economies, up by about more than one-third since 2010, driven by increased floor area, equipment ownership and rising temperatures, but also by the fact the cooling-oriented envelope solutions are often neglected during building design.īuilding envelope performance improvements are critical to getting on track with the majority of the Net Zero Scenario milestones in heating and cooling intensity (energy use per total m 2). Efficiency gains have decreased global space heating service demand by about 5% in advanced economies since 2010, but were not enough to offset floor area growth in emerging and developing economies. ![]() In the last decade more widespread and stringent building codes, as well as increased retrofit rates, have helped decrease space heating intensity by 10% on average globally. ![]() Compared to other solutions in buildings, the selection of envelope structure and materials is particularly important, given the long lifetime of buildings and the associated cost of the envelope. ![]() Proper building design, integrating high-performing envelopes, is the most effective way to reduce the thermal needs of buildings and deliver occupants’ thermal comfort.
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