My colleague Jorge Torres recently published a paper on how to properly design and engineer a modular façade system for building envelope retrofit.
This seems to be an easy task. Just make some modules properly sized to the building, bring-in a crane and place them one next to the other. But it actually resulted in something substantially more complex. Building façades seem to be flat, but they are not. Their surface is uneven, and the existing renders typically make it difficult to properly assess where the structural points actually lie underneath the façade. There is also a need for a very strict dimensional coordination, and perfect waterproofing of the renovation system. Together with many other items, this makes the full process very challenging.
Together with our partners in FOCCHI, a specific system was designed, tested and deployed which tackles and resolves all these issues. The whole concept is based on an anchor system with capacity to be adapted with three degrees of freedom.
With a specific installation procedure, and adaptations for installations in the vicinity of roof eaves, this resulted in a promising system.
Within project RENOZEB, we tested the system in our KUBIK test facility, prior to its installation in a residential building in Durango.
In Durango, we were lucky to be aided by the local design studio MaaB, whose real-life experience in building envelope retrofit allowed for the proper assessment of the actual status of the building, and the adaptation of the overall retrofit concept to an already quite old building. The Building itself is owned and operated by the municipality of Durango, and all the construction works were coordinated by the local development agency Durango Eraikitzen.
The paper is co-authored by 10 partners from Tecnalia, UPV/EHU, FOCCHI, Durango Eraikitzen and MaaB. It is available in open access, with the following full reference:
Torres, J.; Garay-Martinez, R.; Oregi, X.; Torrens-Galdiz, J.I.; Uriarte-Arrien, A.; Pracucci, A.; Casadei, O.; Magnani, S.; Arroyo, N.; Cea, A.M. Plug and Play Modular Façade Construction System for Renovation for Residential Buildings. Buildings 2021, 11, 419. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings11090419