Influence of the Water Vapour Permeability of Airtight Sheets on the Behaviour of Facade

The air-tightness of the thermal envelope of buildings is one of the measures to reduce their energy demands in order to achieve global warming reduction targets. To this end, airtight sheets with different water vapour permeability characteristics are used. The different products studied are highly dispersed in terms of equivalent air thickness values, leading to confusion. After the analysis carried out, it is concluded that all airtight sheets are vapour barriers. To clarify whether or not these sheets are necessary as vapour barriers, a condensation analysis was carried out on 13 different facades for 3 climate zones with severe winters as defined in Spanish regulations. The results reveal that interstitial condensation occurs in only 7 of the 39 case studies, with the traditional facades of brickwork with render causing the greatest problems if the appropriate products are not used. In these cases, airtight sheets with water vapour barrier characteristics must be applied on the interior face of the insulating material. In all other cases (32), the airtight sheets must be permeable to water vapour if it is looked for a more breathable wall to water vapour and a better control of the interior humidity conditions

General and specific conditionings to consider in the process of designing constructive systems of innovative façades

The Building Department of the School of Architecture of the University of Navarra is developing for some time a research line related to the development of constructive systems of innovative façades. One of the developed tools in this research line refers to those factors that could determine or influence the final constructive solution. It is also important to take into account the whole life cycle of the new system, its relation to other constructive systems of the building and its influence in the global building process. A thorough relation of the diverse types of conditionings, which should be considered in the design of façades, has been developed as a guide to identify those that explicitly or implicitly will be necessary to take into account in each case study. Several families of conditionings have been categorized. This complete relation of conditionings allows identifying and defining the main objectives to be considered in each case. These objectives help to define the specific demands (exigencies) that should be solved by the façade constructive system. In this communication we intend to show the importance of these conditionings as a way to study and design these new façades. These conditionings serve as a starting point for the elaboration of a specific programme of necessities related to façade systems. The detailed study of the conditionings allows advancing in the study, analysis, design or assessment of the new constructive systems of façades we expect to develop by means of conceptual and experimental research

Technical conditionings to consider in the process of designing constructive systems of innovative façades

Previously to the study, the analysis or the design of new constructive systems of façade it is fundamental having a relation of those aspects that may condition or influence in their life cycle. The aspects should be considered at the beginning of the elaboration process of constructive systems and in a later stage to assess the obtained results. The aim of this communication is to develop a complete relation of conditionings that ensures that those aspects, which can affect notably the life cycle of the constructive systems, are taken into consideration from the beginning of the process

La investigación e innovación técnica en una Escuela de Arquitectura

Compared with other productive economic sectors of society, the building sector shows that technological and industrial production techniques are incorporated slowly, which explains in part the slow overall development. This is due mainly to the deep economic crisis that the sector experience cyclically, and the lack of continued research activities. Within this area, the Construction Science Department of the School of Architecture at the University of Navarra has developed a protocol for the development of new technologies to improve and optimize the performance of facade systems, contributing at the same time to the sustainability of material and environmental resources, and the reduction of the final costs of buildings and the costs derived from its service stage.En el sector de la edificación, en comparación con otros sectores económico-productivos de la sociedad, se aprecia que los avances tecnológicos y las técnicas de producción industriales se van incorporando con lentitud, lo cual explica en parte su lento desarrollo global. Esto es debido, fundamentalmente, a las crisis económicas profundas que el sector experimenta cíclicamente, y a la falta de actividades continuadas de investigación. Dentro de este ámbito, en el Departamento de Edificación de la Escuela de Arquitectura de la Universidad de Navarra se ha elaborado un protocolo para el desarrollo de nuevas tecnologías que permitan mejorar y optimizar las prestaciones de los cerramientos de fachadas, contribuyendo también a la sostenibilidad de los recursos materiales y ambientales y a la disminución de los costes finales de los edificios y los derivados de su estado en servicio

A thorough protocol to study and develop constructive systems of façades

In the Department of Construction Science, we have developed and documented a specific model of systematized process in order to carry out activities of R&D&I oriented to a detailed design of constructive systems of innovative façades. This specific model will be used as a guide for the study, analysis, design and evaluation of the proposed solutions for façades. This model of systematized process of research provides a general idea of the set of stages and activities in the processes of R&D&I, with a graphical map and a documentary structure that describes how all the process works, step by step, facilitating its comprehension and application. The protocol details the key procedures within the global process. This protocol allows elaborating the programme of necessities derived from the conditionings, requirements and demands related to every specific façade, assisting with the definition of the technical characteristics of its parts and components to approach the conceptual and graphical design of constructive solutions, in successive stages. This protocol provides the means to analyze and evaluate every particular design of façade and the process of R&D&I that has been followed, so that it allows to justify and demonstrate the fulfilment of the requirements and demands that concern every stage of the complete life cycle of façades, and to identify fields that could be improved in the R&D&I process, in order to apply corrective actions. This protocol is complemented by some Supporting Technical Documents, where the scientific and technical criteria and the information from compulsory regulations that are necessary to take decisions in the design progress, are developed. On the whole, it is a useful tool that allows rapid availability of knowledge and rigorous information related to the process of R&D&I, to the constructive systems of façades and to the activity of the diverse agents involved in the building process

PROTOTYPE THERMOELECTRIC CLIMATE SYSTEM FOR ITS USE IN RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS

The School of Architecture of the University of Navarra has begun a project which consists in constructing a prefabricated module, consisting of a simplified inhabited housing unit, and monitoring over the course of one year the behavior of a thermoelectric installation that provides service to this module. The principal objective of the project is to quantify the response capacity of a thermoelectric climate control system applied to a prototype, and evaluate its energy and economic costs in the case that the system were applied in an apartment building. The development of this project represents the application in the field of construction of a technology that already is in use in other areas, fundamentally the military and aerospace. Therefore, we do not seek to demonstrate the performance of Peltier cells per se, but rather to evaluate how they function when applied to the residential area, and to analyze both the positive and negative aspects of their use

Industrialized Sunspace Prototype with Solar Heat Storage. Assessment of Post-Occupational Behaviour in Adaptive Facades.

The thermal performance of two passive solar components has been investigated. An attached sunspace with horizontal heat storage and another one with vertical thermal storage were designed in order to optimize the use of solar gains and its storage and distribution in an industrialized component. These sunspaces have been tested under real conditions, comparing their thermal performance with two commonly used components in residential buildings in Spain: a window and a double window making up an attached sunspace. Different series of experimental measurements were conducted in two test-cells exposed to outdoor conditions in Pamplona (Northern Spain). As a result, nine scenarios during winter 2011 and six during summer 2012 have been carried out, comparing all of the prototypes two by two with different use modes. Results show that a sunspace with heat storage takes advantage of the solar energy and improves the indoor thermal performance of the adjacent room during winter in a better way than a window or a simple sunspace, and that it also offers better performance in summer. The best results in winter and summer were obtained when an appropriate use of the component was performed, in concordance with outdoor conditions. Several thermal control keys for the use of these components are suggested

Arquitectura experimental. Aportaciones experimentales pioneras del trabajo con modelos físicos estructurales 1961-1975

En esta tesis se analizan varias aportaciones experimentales pioneras del trabajo con modelos físicos estructurales mediante la metodología de estudio de casos

Influence of the Water Vapour Permeability of Airtight Sheets on the Behaviour of Facade

The air-tightness of the thermal envelope of buildings is one of the measures to reduce their energy demands in order to achieve global warming reduction targets. To this end, airtight sheets with different water vapour permeability characteristics are used. The different products studied are highly dispersed in terms of equivalent air thickness values, leading to confusion. After the analysis carried out, it is concluded that all airtight sheets are vapour barriers. To clarify whether or not these sheets are necessary as vapour barriers, a condensation analysis was carried out on 13 different facades for 3 climate zones with severe winters as defined in Spanish regulations. The results reveal that interstitial condensation occurs in only 7 of the 39 case studies, with the traditional facades of brickwork with render causing the greatest problems if the appropriate products are not used. In these cases, airtight sheets with water vapour barrier characteristics must be applied on the interior face of the insulating material. In all other cases (32), the airtight sheets must be permeable to water vapour if it is looked for a more breathable wall to water vapour and a better control of the interior humidity conditions

General and specific conditionings to consider in the process of designing constructive systems of innovative façades

The Building Department of the School of Architecture of the University of Navarra is developing for some time a research line related to the development of constructive systems of innovative façades. One of the developed tools in this research line refers to those factors that could determine or influence the final constructive solution. It is also important to take into account the whole life cycle of the new system, its relation to other constructive systems of the building and its influence in the global building process. A thorough relation of the diverse types of conditionings, which should be considered in the design of façades, has been developed as a guide to identify those that explicitly or implicitly will be necessary to take into account in each case study. Several families of conditionings have been categorized. This complete relation of conditionings allows identifying and defining the main objectives to be considered in each case. These objectives help to define the specific demands (exigencies) that should be solved by the façade constructive system. In this communication we intend to show the importance of these conditionings as a way to study and design these new façades. These conditionings serve as a starting point for the elaboration of a specific programme of necessities related to façade systems. The detailed study of the conditionings allows advancing in the study, analysis, design or assessment of the new constructive systems of façades we expect to develop by means of conceptual and experimental research