Fabric Architecture Specifier's Guide 2024 - 8

IT'S MATERIAL THAT IT MATTERS
durable mesh fabrics used for facade
treatment also readily accept graphic
design elements in a variety of colors.
Membrane facades
are an area of market
growth and design
innovation for both
new and retrofitted
construction.
Craig Hungtington
HUNTINGTON DESIGN
PV IN YOUR FUTURE?
Integrating photovoltaic (PV) features
has become one of the strong cards
to play when calculating the carbon
bottom line. The development
and rapid improvement in energy
efficiencies for the " thin film " version
of PV is offering architects a new
opportunity to reduce material
weight and add back to the energy
balance calculations. Just as ETFE has
become one of designers' favorite new
materials, thin film PV could become
the next bright tool in cracking the
metrics of reaching zero emissions.
A 2023 feature story in Specialty
Fabrics Review, reporting on the
progress of solar-powered fabrics,
stated that new, more efficient versions
of PV crystal (used to convert light
into electrical pulses) that bond with
fabrics " could be available within
the next decade for use on marine,
tent and awning canvases, as well as
conventional buildings (see case study
p. 14). Although adding PV components
is only one tool in a host of sustainable
tools we get to use, not everyone feels
at ease with putting panels of PV on
their building. Yet, it can contribute
to one of the AIA's Framework for
Design Excellence, under the category
of " Design for energy. " Thin film PV
answers the framework's question:
" How can the project exceed building
code efficiency standard to approach
net zero energy and net zero carbon? "
With these methods described
What is " mid-doors " ?
I
n November 2020, well after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the
business journal Fast Company ran an article by Erik Olsen that defined
" mid-doors " as a transition zone between inside and outside. " Rather
than thinking of indoors and outdoors as a binary condition, we need to
acknowledge there is a spectrum from indoors to outdoors, " Olsen wrote.
He cited several familiar places-large atriums amid big office buildings,
grand European train stations that provide protection from sun and rain
but are mostly unheated, and covered markets that only shade or stop the
rain. He stated that " mid-doors spaces provide energy savings. Relaxed
temperatures result in less heating and cooling energy, or in some cases,
no energy at all. "
This Specifier's Guide features two projects that were designed as middoors
spaces, both located adjacent to Times Square in New York City. The
TSX project designed by Perkins Eastman Architects and Silman, features
ETFE pillow roofing and ETFE motorized walls (see p. 5).
" These allow for indoor/outdoor spatial qualities, " says Nic Goldsmith
of Silman, " as the exterior temperature changes. This was an outdoor
terrace which could now be utilized for year-round use. The mechanized
retractable ETFE sidewalls are the first application of this material as a
retractable glazing system. "
8
FabricArchitectureMag.com
here, of integrating fabric elements
into your buildings, we hope you
find it useful as well as practical to
improving your building design and
performance throughout the value
chain of construction.
Bruce N. Wright, FAIA, the former editor
of Fabric Architecture, teaches architecture
and construction management at Dunwoody
College of Technology and is a consultant to
architects and designers. He is a frequent
contributor to Specialty Fabrics Review and
Textile Technology Source.
RESOURCES
Birdair Inc. birdair.com
Huntington Design huntingtondesign.com
NovaShield itape.com
Nowofol (ETFE) nowofol.com
Pvilion pvilion.com
Serge Ferarri sergeferrari.com/us-en
Sonoma Shade Sails sonomashadesails.com
SunCraft NZ suncraft.co.nz
TYLin Lightweight Structures Group tylin.com/
lightweight-structures-group

http://www.birdair.com http://www.huntingtondesign.com http://www.itape.com http://www.nowofol.com http://www.pvilion.com http://www.sergeferrari.com/us-en http://www.sonomashadesails.com http://suncraft.co.nz http://www.tylin.com/ http://www.FabricArchitectureMag.com

Fabric Architecture Specifier's Guide 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Fabric Architecture Specifier's Guide 2024