Extract

Energy crisis is a serious concern which has all throughout drawn attention from the academia
and practitioners. One aspect of this crisis relates to construction or buildings in particular. Buildings are amongst the main cause of pollution across the world. Hence, the importance of façades in buildings cannot be undermined. With the passage of time, the role of façades has changed eminently. Apart from providing superior aesthetics, they shielded the structural system from the deterioration caused by direct contact with the surroundings. But now, it has a crucial functional role in the form of energy efficiency, acoustics performances and light transmittance among others.
The current paper adopts a case study approach. Select buildings are taken up and their respective
façade design methods are explored. The study would highlight the characteristics of the sustainable
façades and also discuss various other design alternatives. These include building orientations, façade
treatment, selection of various building openings for day lighting and shading device/elements. This
article would also pay attention on the selection of materials along with their properties that help
achieve higher sustainability levels of the select buildings. It would emphasize the importance given to
the natural light and also about the form of the building, which would help solve the problem of
excessive heating, while also providing maximum natural ventilation. Certainly, the structural members
and spatial aspects carves out the sophistication and turns the design into a more energy efficient one.
The study substantiates the previous literature on the importance of façade in improving the energy
efficiency of the select buildings. It underlines the newer options available due to the technological
advances. The results from this study stresses on the mutual coordination between the client, architects
and the engineers in order to achieve an optimal yet sustainable energy design.

Keywords: Building facades, energy efficiency, functionality, orientation

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