Enhancing Building Energy Efficiency Through

Facade Development and Envelope Treatment:

Kinetic Facade

A SEMINAR REPORT

SUBMITTED BY-

MANYA SHARMA
(180501002)

GUIDED BY-

PROF. (DR.) MADHURA YADAV

Dean, Faculty of Design

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN

Manipal University Jaipur
 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Seminar entitled “Enhancing Building Energy

Efficiency Through Facade Development and Envelope Treatment: Kinetic
Façade” presented by Manya Sharma, bearing Registration No.
180501002 of SA&D, MUJ has been completed successfully.

I wish her/ him success in all future endeavors.

PROF. (DR.) MADHURA YADAV

Dean, Faculty of Design
 Acknowledgements

I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude to my guide(s), Prof

MADHURA YADAV, of SA&D for her/their unflagging support and continuous
encouragement throughout the seminar/project work. Without her guidance and
persistent help this report would not have been possible.

I must acknowledge the faculties and staffs of School of Architecture

and Design, Manipal University Jaipur.

It’s my great pleasure to acknowledge my colleagues for providing guidance.

MANYA SHARMA
180501002

SA&D
 ABSTRACT

The impact of climate change cannot be altered, but building adaptation can, which is
why the Kinetic façade technique is one of the best technological changes in
architecture. The kinetic facade allows buildings to manage their energy consumption
more efficiently and adapt to any changes in the climate, thus providing maximum
comfort to their occupants regardless of the change in climate. A kinetic façade is a
perfect solution to achieve energy efficiency while addressing climate change and
human needs.

Buildings must be responsive to their climate context, and since the building envelope
is the boundary between the external atmosphere and the interior, the layout of the
envelope becomes imperative to developing sustainable and energy-efficient
buildings.

MANYA SHARMA
180501002
SEMESTER – VII
B. ARCH
13/12/21

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................6
2. AIM..........................................................................................................................6
3. ENERGY EFFICIENCY.........................................................................................7
3.1 NEED FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY.........................................................7
3.2 WHY SUSTAINABLE FACADES?...........................................................8
3.3 FACTORS AFFECTING FAÇADE DESIGN ...........................................9
3.4 CHARACTERISTICS AND PROPERTIES OF SUSTAINABLE
FACADES.................................................................................................................. 10
3.5 DESIGN STRATEGIES AND CLIMATE...............................................11
3.6 CLIMATE-BASED DESIGN METHODS FOR HIGH-PERFORMANCE
FACADES…...........................................................................................................…11
3.7 INTEGRATED FAÇADE DESIGN PROCESS.......................................12
4. KINETIC FACADES .............................................................................................13
4.1 CLASSIFICATION OF KINETIC FACADES..........................................13
4.2 CASE EXAMPLES.....................................................................................15
5. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................15
6. REFERENCES........................................................................................................16

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: SOLAR RADIATION ANALYSIS...............................................................8
Figure 2: SUSTAINABLE FACADE............................................................................9
Figure 3: CLIMATE BASED DESIGN METHODS TABLE…................................11
Figure 4: CLASSIFICATIONS OF KINETIC FAÇADE DIAGRAM.......................13
Figure 5: TYPES OF GEOMETRIC TRANSFORMATIONS…...............................14
Figure 6: CASE STUDY.............................................................................................15

1. INTRODUCTION
Buildings are commonly laid low with natural and climatic elements, or even daily
human needs, and those elements aren't static however dynamic, they alternate with
time. As homes are a primary part of life, there may be a want homes to evolve
solemnly to the converting climate circumstance even as maintaining their strength
performance and ideally accomplishing greater strength with those parameters or
improvements. One of the methods to make homes to be adaptive to the present-day
modifications of the climatic situations and human wishes is to make the homes
facades dynamic as well, to evolve to the converting situations, consequently the
kinetic façade. The idea of kinetic façade is composed often of gadgets that flow and
alternate their forms with the aid of using both inner computer control, sensory cause
or alternate because of climatic alternate situations.

A kinetic façade is one which shifts dynamically as opposed to being static or fixed,
permitting movement to take location at the floor of a building. It may be used to
manipulate light, air, and strength. It is feasible to software the shifting factors of the
façade to react to climatic or different environmental elements, time, rates, and
occupancy size, and so forth to enhance overall performance and efficiency.

2. AIM
This paper will find out the background of the kinetic façade and monitor how kinetic
facades characteristic and the way they keep the strength performance in their host
buildings and in maximum instances upload to the strength provision of the buildings.
Furthermore, the paper will focus on how kinetic façade structures can lower the
environmental affects and assist to lessen reliance on mechanical structures for the
constructing’s strength. Moreover, how the façade enables to generate power,
especially electricity. The result of the paper needs to be to recognize how a kinetic
façade can assist in producing the specified strength for the constructing, in addition
to imparting the thermal comfort required, making the building strength efficient.

3. ENERGY EFFICIENCY

An energy-efficient building creates comfortable residing situations in the dwelling

with the least viable quantity of strength intake maximizing performance in use of
resources. Measures to make a building energy-efficient encompass the building’s
whole lifecycle: the development system itself, going into the operation protection
cycle and demolition stages of the building. An energy-efficient building continues
the building absolutely useful and thermally comfortable for its occupants as well.
With the price of energy increasing and the strength crisis being an imminent reality,
the want to offer energy-efficient building designs will become extra important.

3.1. NEED FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Having an energy efficient building is turning into more and more crucial as energy
emerges as a vital economic trouble because of excessive call for energy and
unsustainable materials of energy. This means that even families need to compare
how properly energy is getting used to heat and light a home. Energy green homes
provide possibilities to keep cash in addition to lessen greenhouse gas emissions. As
well, the reliance on non-renewable fuels isn't always sustainable, and it includes the
use of increasingly more negative processing method to achieve those fuels. The
environmental advantage of lowering the wide variety of greenhouse gases is each
nearby and global. There are nearby advantages because of the reality that a home’s
energy demand requires a nearby delivery of energy, which reasons nearby pollutants
and poor health side-effects. This lets in groups to focus on making an investment
price range in different locations as opposed to in constructing strength plants. Energy
performance measures are intended to lessen the quantity of energy fed on at the same
time as preserving or enhancing the fine of services supplied in the building. Among
the advantages probable to arise from energy performance investments in buildings
are:

 Reducing energy use for space heating and/or cooling and water heating;
 Reduced electricity use for lighting, office machinery and domestic type
appliances;
 Lower maintenance requirements.
 Improved comfort;
 Enhanced property value.

AMOUNT OF SOLAR RADIATION TRANSMITTED

With shading devices Without shading devices

Figure 1: Solar radiation analysis

3.2. WHY SUSTAINABLE FACADES?

Sustainable facades are described as exterior enclosure that use least feasible quantity
of energy to hold a comfortable environment, which promotes productiveness to
certain material which has much less negative effect on environment. The function of
sustainable façades is to lessen buildings’ energy consumption. A sustainable facade
acts as a critical barrier among comfortable indoor and uncontrolled outdoor of a
building.
Primary objective:
 To minimize the building energy use while simultaneously enhancing the
comfort and well-being of the building’s occupants.
Other objectives:
 Reduce the overall energy consumption 
 Improve the indoor comfort level
 Maintain the indoor environmental quality

Figure 2: Sustainable facade

3.3. FACTORS AFFECTING FAÇADE DESIGN

Building façades play an essential function in building aesthetics and in protective

the structural device and contents from deterioration because of publicity to an
competitive environment. Well-designed façades also can assist enhance the
sturdiness and strength performance of the constructing in addition to raising the
extent of human comfort. In general, façade layout and detailing have now no
longer acquired the equal stage of rigor and usual scrutiny because the load-
bearing additives of buildings.
  Location And Climate
 Building Orientation
 Building Use
 Materials
 Finishes 
 Complexity Of Design and Application

3.4. CHARACTERISTICS AND PROPERTIES OF

SUSTAINABLE FACADES

 Allowing daylight into a building.

 Preventing unwanted solar heat from entering the building.
 Storing heat within the mass of the wall.
 Preventing heat transfer through improved insulation.
 Preventing air or moisture from passing through the facade. 
 Allowing natural ventilation to cool the building’s interior. 
These properties are highly dependent on the climate, building’s function, occupancy
patterns, orientation, equipment loads and the type of facade.
There are primarily two types of facades: 
 Opaque facades
 Glazed facades

3.5. DESIGN STRATEGIES AND CLIMATE

Different design strategies are required for different climatic zones. Basic methods for
designing high performance building facades include:
  Orienting and developing geometry and massing of the building to respond to
solar position
  Providing solar shading to control cooling loads and improve thermal
comfort 
 Using natural ventilation to reduce cooling loads and enhance air quality 
 Minimizing energy used for artificial lighting and mechanical cooling and
heating by optimizing exterior wall insulation and the use of daylighting.

3.6. CLIMATE-BASED DESIGN METHODS FOR HIGH-

PERFORMANCE FACADES

 
CLIMATE DESIGN STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE FACADES
TYPE

 Solar control: protection of the facade from direct

solar radiation 
 Reduction of external heat gains: protection from
WARM solar heat gain
 Cooling: use of natural ventilation 
 Daylight: use of natural light sources while
minimizing solar heat gain 

 Solar collection and passive heating: collection of

solar heat through the building envelope 
 Heat storage: storage of heat in the mass of the walls 
COLD  Heat conservation: preservation of heat within the
building
 Daylight: use of natural light sources and increased
glazed areas of the facade

 Solar control: protection of facade from direct solar

radiation (shading) during warm seasons 
 MIXED  Solar collection and passive heating: solar
CLIMATES collection during cold seasons 
 Daylight: use of natural light sources 
Figure 3: Climate based design methods table

3.7 INTEGRATED FAÇADE DESIGN PROCESS

A sustainable integrated facade design process is intended to produce high

performance buildings that are energy efficient, healthy, and economical in the long
run, and use resources wisely to minimize the impact on the environment.

The existing practices in integrated facade design process are as follows:

 Designers rarely design a façade using the codes.
 Facade design typically defined by end of concepts phase.
 Architect subcontracts out HVAC and lighting systems design.
 Architect subcontracts out proof of energy code compliance.
 Simulation tools are rarely ever used. 

However, the ideal practice for facade design process should be:
 Recognizing synergistic impacts of design on lighting and HVAC systems
over 30- to 50-year life of building.
 Analysis should be focused on quantifying the magnitude of trade-offs
between facade-lighting-HVAC designs energy and non-energy trade-offs that
affect occupant comfort.
4. KINETIC FACADES
It is defined as a facade that adapts and responses to the changes of the
environmental conditions. It can be applied for enhancing daylight quality and
thermal heat performance in interior spaces. This adaptation relies on motions
 that affects the physical structure or material properties of the building
façade without minimizing the overall structural integrity. The basic moves are
move, rotate, and scale. More complex motions can be shaped when two motion
types combine like directional twist.

4.1. CLASSIFICATION OF KINETIC FACADES

Many classifications have been handled for discussing the Responsive Kinetic
Facade types. The research proposes a comprehensive categorization for these
types and introduces subcategories and secondary one’s underneath. In general,
kinetic façades can be classified according to two main factors:
• Geometric Transformations
• Façade function

Figure 4: Classifications of kinetic facade

(i) GEOMETRIC TRANSFORMATIONS

The research gathers the aspects affecting the Kinetic façades configuration in four
main elements: geometric transformation, pattern shape, skin form and façade
material. The basic forms of geometric transformations are translation, rotation,
scaling, and material deformation. In addition, merging two or more types of them
can create various hybrid kinetic systems.

 Rotation: The devices move around an axis.

 Scaling: It is the contraction and expansion of the devices/objects

 Translation: The movement takes place in the direction of a vector

 Movement by material deformity depends on changing properties of materials, such

as weight and elasticity

Figure 5: Types of geometric transformations

(ii) Façade function

The main functions of kinetic facades are aesthetic function, energy
generation and environmental control.
4.2. CASE EXAMPLES

Figure 6: Case Study

5. CONCLUSION

Sustainable architecture pursues to lessen the negative environmental impact of

buildings by raising efficiency and innovating the use of materials. Facade is one of
the most significant contributors to the energy budget and the comfort parameters of
any building. As energy and other natural resources continue to be depleted, it has
become clear that technologies and strategies that allow us to maintain our
satisfaction with the interior environment while consuming fewer of these resources
are major objectives of contemporary facade design.

Kinetic systems in architecture, despite integral to buildings from the oldest times, are
still in their formative years. The degree of kineticism in a building widely varies
according to the levels of machines’ sophistication used in it. Simple movable
elements may include sliding panels and pivoted screens, while elevators, escalators
and convey or devices represent more sophisticated elements of notable importance.
Kinetic systems may also include systems or elements that may automatically fold,
slide, expand, and transform in both size and shape. However, architects and
researchers who work in this field are aiming to develop considerably sophisticated
systems that are to include buildings able to change their postures, automatically or
dynamically correct any deformation in their structures, reduce their weights and
physically reconfigure themselves to meet users’ needs. In this study, it is suggested
that these new systems and possibilities might be especially useful to enhance the
environmental performance of buildings, allowing more human-comfort and better
interaction between the building and its context.
Throughout the study and the different examples that had been overviewed in it, it is
to conclude that these systems are able to play important role in the following aspects:
-Enhancing the environmental quality of buildings
-Providing better control for temperature and glare and reducing air-conditioning
expenses
-Providing varying views for each space in the building
-Allowing altering orientation for spaces to cope with the weather in different seasons
-Making solar energy systems more efficient
-Facilitating very ambitious ideas like varying transparency of glasses or responsive
alteration of solids and voids to cope with different weather condition or with the
occupancy level of the space
6. REFERENCES
i. Nashaat, Basma & Waseef, Ahmed. (2017). Responsive Kinetic Facades: An
Effective Solution for Enhancing Indoor Environmental Quality in Buildings.
ii. Jialiang (Julian) Wang, Liliana O. Beltrán, Ph.D., Jonghoon Kim. From Static
to Kinetic: A Review of Acclimated Kinetic Building Envelopes.
iii. Seyed Morteza Hosseini, Masi Mohammadi, Alexander Rosemann, Torsten
Schröder, Jos Lichtenberg, (2019). A morphological approach for kinetic
façade design process to improve visual and thermal comfort: Review.
iv. Kensek, Karen & Hansanuwat, Ryan. (2011). Environment Control Systems
for Sustainable Design: A Methodology for Testing, Simulating and
Comparing Kinetic Facade Systems. Journal of Creative Sustainable
Architecture & Built Environment. 1.
v. Alotaibi, Fahad. (2015). The Role of Kinetic Envelopes to Improve Energy
Performance in Buildings. Journal of Architectural Engineering Technology.
vi. Elghazi, Yomna & Wagdy, Ayman & Abdelwahab, Sahar. (2015).
SIMULATION DRIVEN DESIGN FOR KINETIC SYSTEM; OPTIMIZE
KALEIDOCYCLE FAÇADE CONFIGURATION FOR DAYLIGHTING
ADEQUACY IN HOT ARID CLIMATES.
vii. M. Pesenti, G. Masera, F. Fiorito, M. Sauchelli Kinetic solar skin: a
responsive folding technique Energy Procedia, 70 (2015) (2015), pp. 661-672
viii. Grobman, Jacob & Capeluto, Guedi & Austern, Guy. (2016). External
shading in buildings: comparative analysis of daylighting performance in
static and kinetic operation scenarios.
ix. Wanas, A. & Aly, Sherine & Farghal, A. & El-Dabaa, Rana. (2015). Use of
kinetic facades to enhance daylight performance in office buildings with
emphasis on Egypt climates. Journal of Engineering and Applied Science. 4.
 x. Alkhayyat, J. (2013). Design strategy for adaptive kinetic patterns: Creating
a generative design for dynamic solar shading systems (M.Sc. thesis).
Manchester, UK: University of Salford
xi. Oungrinis, Konstantinos-Alketas. (2013). Implementation of Kinetic Systems
in Architecture: A Classification of Techniques and Mechanisms Appropriate
for Discreet Building Parts.
xii. Coelho, M. (2008). Materials of interaction: Responsive materials in the
design of transformable interactive surfaces. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
xiii. AKSAMIJA, A., (2013). Sustainable facades: Design methods for high-
performance building envelopes. USA: John Wiley & Sons, 23-24.
xiv. ELKHAYAT, Y. O., 2014. Interactive Movement in Kinetic Architecture.
Journal of Engineering Sciences, Assiut University, Vol. 42, No. 3, 816-845
FAVOINO, F., JIN, Q., & OVEREND, M., 2014. Towards an ideal adaptive
glazed façade for office buildings. Journal of Energy Procedia, (62), 289-298.
xv. F AVOINO, F., OVEREND, M., & JIN, Q., 2015. The optimal thermo-
optical properties and energy saving potential of adaptive glazing
technologies. Journal of Applied Energy, (156), 1-15