USING KINETIC FAÇADE TO SHADE IN A WARM CLIMATE.

VINAY GOYAL
STUDIO 12 | UMA 4
UMEA SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
1Introduction:

Portraying humanity’s gloomy scenario and the role of architecture, it has been established that by the early 21st
century the building of shelter (in all its forms) consumed more than half of the world’s resources -- translating
into 16 percent of the earth’s freshwater resources, 30–40 percent of all energy supplies, and 50 percent by
weight of all the raw materials withdrawn from earth’s surface. 1 The built environment was also responsible for
40–50 percent of waste deposits in landfills and 20–30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Building systems
use the forms of energy and the natural resources on a large scale with the production of vast quantities of by-
products. The need for the hour is to minimize the negative environmental impact of buildings by enhancing
efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, and development space.

This essay will be dealing with how kinetic facades can be used for efficient shading and thus reduce the energy
required for active systems of HVAC. On average, in a commercial building, the HVAC system consumes
nearly 41% of the total energy consumption. Efficient approaches are being used and developed around the
world to reduce energy consumption. I aim to answer: How kinetic facades can be used in a warm climate for
efficient shading to reduce energy consumption?

1
IslamiCity : Need for Sustainable Architecture (2018) https://www.islamicity.org/14225/need-for-sustainable-architecture/ (Accessed 2019-
12-23)
Daylight in buildings:
The source of all daylight is the Sun. The proportion of direct to diffuse light impacts the amount and quality of
daylight and the heat transmitted into the built space. Daylighting can help increase worker productivity and
decrease absenteeism in daylit commercial office buildings, boost test scores in daylit classrooms, and
accelerate recovery and shorten stays in daylit hospital patient rooms. 2

Daylighting is the controlled admission of natural light, direct sunlight, and diffused-skylight into a building to
reduce electric lighting and saving energy. A daylighting system is comprised not just of daylight apertures,
such as skylights and windows, but is coupled with a daylight-responsive lighting control system. When there is
adequate ambient lighting provided from daylight alone, the system can reduce the energy required for electric
lighting. Although fenestration, or location of windows in a building, must be designed in such a way as to
avoid the admittance of direct sun.2 Alternatively, devices such as blinds or shades are used to prevent
admittance of direct sunlight.

By generating heat, lighting also adds to the loads imposed on a building's mechanical cooling equipment.
Through daylighting strategies, for many institutional and commercial buildings, total energy costs can be
reduced by as much as one-third through the optimal integration of daylighting strategies.

Daylighting systems have three primary functions:

• solar shading,
• protection from glare,
• redirection of daylight.

Controlling daylighting:

Innovative daylighting systems are designed to redirect sunlight to areas where it is required, without glare.
These systems use optical devices that initiate reflection, refraction, and or use the total internal reflection of
sunlight and skylight.2 Advanced daylighting systems are designed to actively track the sun or passively control
the direction of sunlight. For example, in warm climate excess, direct sunlight can be reduced by decreasing the
transparency of the fenestration area based on the position of the sun to the building. 2

2
Ruck Nancy. Daylight in Buildings: a sourcebook on daylighting systems and components. Berkley:Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
2000.
Façade systems:

Façade is the front or the skin of the building. Façade works as a sun-shading system, and they are responsible
for over-heating, which is making the employment of air conditioning systems necessary to guarantee
appropriate internal comfort.

It is one of the most critical design parameters for determining how the indoor physical environment relates to
thermal comfort, visual comfort, and even occupants’ working productivity. Its properties determine how much
light, heat, or wind is permitted into the indoor environment.

In recent years, the new paradigm shift in architecture coincides with advancements in computer science,
cybernetics, and building technology that have altered the architecture from a static form to a more kinetic and
dynamic form.

“The primary goal of intelligent kinetic systems should be to act as a moderator responding
to changes between human needs and environmental conditions.” 3

A kinetic façade is one that changes dynamically rather than being static or fixed, allowing movement to occur
on a building’s surface. This helps to create what the architect Buckminster Fuller called a ‘skin-like
articulation’ effect, and is an extension of the idea that a building's envelope is an active system rather than just
a container. It can be used to manage light, air, energy, and also information. It can act to reduce the solar
gain as well as allowing the passage of fresh air into the building, helping to alter the interior environment. The
moving elements of the façade can be programmed to respond to climatic or other environmental factors, time,
levels and type of occupancy, and so on to improve performance and efficiency. 4

Kinetic Façades in warm climates:

Conventional shading systems at times block the minimum daylight required, darkening the interior and
resulting in need of artificial lighting. With the use of kinetic systems, Light would be allowed to penetrate the
structure and resulting in energy saving. (Koster Helmut, 2004)

3.
Alotaibi Fahad. The Role of Kinetic Envelopes to Improve Energy Performance in Buildings. J Archit Eng Tech .4. 3. 2015. 3-4
4. Bakr Azza. Kinetic Facades the new Paradigm Shift in Architecture toward an Environmental Design Performance. Journal of Arts, literature,
Humanities and Social Sciences. 43.29.2019
The efficiency of the sun-shading device is related to the solar altitude angle which varies over the day and
year. Therefore adaptive systems appear to be more suitable than fixed ones since they can be adjusted with the
changing of solar radiation, allowing individual control, optimal shading, and maximization of daylight use.

The kinetic façade shall adapt to high solar exposure and know-how to treat this amount
of solar radiation, which is responsible for increasing energy consumption. Results indicate that these kinetic
façade systems can reduce the energy consumption required for cooling 3by approximately 30% more than the
non-shade system. 4

When kinetic systems are installed in buildings, they can be controlled by different means. Managing kinetic
systems may range from simple methods by manual control to complicated automatic control. Automatic
control complexity can vary from just allowing users to take a certain action by turning the system on and off
to more complicated pre-programmed automated systems. These systems can be fully automated while being
connected to a set of sensors and detectors to realize any changes that occur allowing these kinetic systems to
respond according to pre-programmed settings in which buildings' users can't interfere or change.

To make any system automated and responsive it needs to be actuated, i.e., an input of motion has to be
transferred to the system so that it can fulfill the performances required. This is generally obtained through
control of external loads, internal forces or deformations. Actuators need a control system that translates
incoming signals from user interaction or climate change into actuation commands. Sensors are the link
between the environmental space and the adaptive system; they record the external changes, they confront them
with the desired state and transfer the information to the processor, monitoring all the effects on the structure
and its reactions. Fully automated systems are the most efficient as the response changes in real-time. For
example, the sensors intercept the continuously changing position of the sun and to realize the changes in the
kinetic façade in real-time. The real-time changes make the shading far more efficient than a manually
controlled system.

Kinetic façade can be reconfigured in several ways. It may be able to reconfigure fenestration size by changing
its size to bigger or smaller depending on their needs and desire or have a valve system to cover the fenestration
as per their needs to allow diffused sunlight to enter.

4 Bakr Azza. Kinetic Facades the new Paradigm Shift in Architecture toward an Environmental Design Performance. Journal of Arts, literature,
Humanities and Social Sciences. 43.29.2019
Installing kinetic facade on buildings will increase costs; on the other
hand, when systems are employed to maximize the use of diffused sunlight and energy efficiency
will result in reducing buildings running costs during the life span of the building. Thus making the system
economically viable and environmentally friendly.

However, shading systems mounted on the outside of the buildings are exposed to external wind loads and
weathering. Therefore special consideration must be given to the material used and the structure built to support
the skin.

Case study: Al Bahar Towers

Building typology: High Rise and commercial use.
Location: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Climate: Arid, Very hot summers and pleasant winters.
Since the climate is hot almost throughout the year, shading from direct sun is required to reduce the load on
HVAC system. The shutters open and close like butterfly wings in response to heat and
light levels inside the building presents an incredibly dynamic façade.

The geometric patterns of the façade come from traditional Arabian culture and are Modular, dynamic, and have
1049 modules per tower. The modules are made up of PFTE. Each element can contract and expand to control
glare and optimize natural light internally, depending upon the solar conditions (Cilento, 2013).

Lighting
4
It is stated that an office building needs 250 to 2000 lux for working conditions. It is designed in such a way
that light sensors located at the perimeter of the ceiling near the curtain-wall read lower than 250 Lux, dimmers
4
linked between the sensors and artificial lighting are activated to maintain the required comfort threshold.

Shading Performance
1. If solar rays land on the curtain-wall between 00 and 79 degrees–Require full front cover.
2. If solar rays land on the curtain-wall between 80 and 83 degrees -Require partial front cover. (Partial views).
3. If solar rays land on the curtain-wall greater than 83 degrees -No front cover, Maximum unobstructed views. 4

4
Kumari Meena and Ayyappan Kaviya. A review on the application of kinetic architecture in building facades. International Research Journal of
Engineering and Technology. 5. 8. 2018. 1728-1730
 Open position Closed position

Interim position

Control Mechanism
Linear screw-jack actuator & electric motor-triangular facets, fold into a center-preprogrammed sequence.
Limits direct solar gain to a maximum of 400 watts/m.Each module-façade varies smoothly between the open
and closed states, allows to obtain optimal balance-outside conditions and interior requirements throughout the
building’s floor plan. The software is linked to three main sensors located at the top of each tower for sensing
Light, Wind, and Rain. The system offers live feedback to the operator including wind speed, light intensity,
rain levels, faulty units, and their folding positions. 4.

Engineers on this project have stated that this kinetic sunscreen reduces the cooling load by over 20 percent,
with corresponding savings in energy consumption and carbon emissions. The design has resulted in a 40%
saving in carbon emissions. (Cilento, 2013).

4.
Kumari Meena and Ayyappan Kaviya. A review on the application of kinetic architecture in building facades. International Research Journal of
Engineering and Technology. 5. 8. 2018. 1728-1730
Conclusion:

Daylighting is integral to indoor space. In warm climates, excessive light causes a rise in indoor spaces yet
daylighting is necessary. The design should be aimed to cut off any excessive sunlight above the minimum
threshold. As the source of light, the sun keeps changing its position; a shading system should also be dynamic
to have a better response. A kinetic façade is thus a practical approach to designing the building envelope, as
shown by figures of reduced energy consumption, making the kinetic façade an optimal method to address
harsh climates, particularly in the case of sun shading, and to provide conveniently natural lighting and fresh air.
The performance of the system can be further optimized by using a fully automated system, which intercepts
and responds to the signal in real-time.

References:

1. Koster Helmut. Dynamic daylighting architecture: Basics, systems, projects. Berlin: Birkhauser 2004
2. Hornby. Wehmeier (ed.) Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.7th ed.Oxford: Oxford University
Press. 2010
3. Marta Barozzi, Julian Lienhard, Alessandra Zanelli, and Carol Monticelli. The sustainability of adaptive
envelopes: developments of kinetic architecture. Milano: Procedia Engineering. 155. 2016. 275 – 284
4. Nelly Ramzy and Hatem Fayed. Kinetic systems in architecture: New approach for environmental
control systems and context-sensitive buildings. Sustainable Cities and Society. 1. 2011. 170– 177
5. IslamiCity : Need for Sustainable Architecture (2018) https://www.islamicity.org/14225/need-for-
sustainable-architecture/ (Accessed 2019-12-23)
6. Ruck Nancy. Daylight in Buildings: a sourcebook on daylighting systems and components.
Berkley:Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. 2000.
7. Alotaibi Fahad. The Role of Kinetic Envelopes to Improve Energy Performance in Buildings. J Archit Eng Tech .4.
3. 2015. 3-4
8. Nady Riham , Dynamic Facades Environmental Control Systems for Sustainable Design. Renewable Energy and
Sustainable Development (RESD) .3 .1, Special Issue, 2017. 118-127
9. Bakr Azza. Kinetic Facades the new Paradigm Shift in Architecture toward an Environmental Design
Performance. Journal of Arts, literature, Humanities and Social Sciences. 43.29.2019
10. Kumari Meena and Ayyappan Kaviya. A review on the application of kinetic architecture in building facades.
International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology. 5. 8. 2018. 1728-1730