ADAPTIVE BUILDINGS

CLIMATE, FENESTRATION AND TECHNOLOGY

MANAS ARORA | DISSERTATION | August 9, 2016

AUTOMATED, ADAPTIVE AND DYNAMIC BUILDINGS INTELLIGENT

SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE FOR THE FUTURE?
With the zero carbon plan on the horizon, it is becoming increasingly obvious that in the future we are
going to have to take greater control over the operation and behavior of the built environment. While we
can expect buildings to be built to higher environmental standards, the everyday operation of these
buildings in order to justify this improvement in material, build and design quality have become just as
important.

So the idea of man and building working in unison is ideal as a concept, but can it really work in practice?
Can the layman be trusted with the responsibility of having to understand the multiple factors that go into
building design, operation and time specific environmental responses to create an ideal sustainable
environment?
...Or could automated adaptive technologies be intrinsic to the design and operation of future buildings?
Adaptive technology is nothing new; for years cars have been designed with automatic rain sensors that
trigger windscreen wipers when water is detected, or lighting monitors which would automatically flick the
lights on when required. It seems though when it comes to the design of buildings, advancements have
not been made and the potential benefits of such applied sciences have been overlooked.
Imagine a building that is always at its optimum, regardless of the external conditions, time of day or
season of the year. For example, on a component scale, a composite wall whereby the u-value has the
ability to change depending on the internal conditioning requirements. Or, Solar tracking, where the
permeable and glazed elements of a building adjust and position themselves to follow the sunpath
throughout the day and providing optimum natural lighting to inhabitants. Is it even far fetched to suggest
that the whole building could be alive - designed to move, reconfigure and re-align itself almost like a living
organism.
There are already buildings which have been designed to adapt to the environment and specific conditions
of a given time, however the programming is manual and responsibility is left with the user to monitor
and control assuming they will understand how, when and what needs to be done to optimize the
configuration. This is where the problem lies and a poorly managed environmental system can be
detrimental to performance or, in some cases worse than no system at all.

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So could automated, dynamic building technology help us deal with the issues we face in the future,
without the requirement of a degree in environmental studies?
Adaptation is essential for survival and success: This is as true for buildings as it is for all other aspects of
our lives. Today buildings represent the single largest contributor to carbon output in the world; their
owners and occupants pay the price in higher energy costs and reduced comfort and flexibility. Rising
energy demands, along with the lack of design solutions that sufficiently respond to the changes in our
environment, may well be the defining problems of our century. Adaptation is the means by which we can
begin to address these daunting challenges and enter a new era of innovation.
As buildings all over the world are responsible for a majority of the greenhouse gases emitted today, one
of the easiest ways to reduce a buildings energy usage post-construction is to take these adaptive and
dynamic factors into consideration during pre-design. The technology is available, but its up to
stakeholders at each level architects, designers, contractors, and product manufacturers to listen closely
to drivers in the market and respond with innovative, relevant, and effective solutions.
Europe has been doing this for some time now and North America is just beginning to embrace it. With
the need for energy efficient buildings, including the existing building stock remaining one of the key
solutions to addressing climate change, perhaps we can take a note from nature and learn how living,
intelligent, dynamic systems can help the built environment adapt to the conditions around it.
With compelling but simple logic, Buildings with adaptive systems use less energy, offer more occupant
comfort, and feature better overall space efficiency than static buildings do. These technological advances
allow us to create buildings that are self-optimizing, rather than merely best-fit compromises.

References:
1. http://www.archdaily.com/71450/adaptive-and-dynamic-buildings-%25e2%2580%2593-the-future-ofenvironmental-design-architecture
2. http://blacktansa.blogspot.in/2010/10/automated-adaptive-and-dynamic.html
3. https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/54537

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