Concerning the use of renewable energies, facades offer great potential. Due to the existing and mostly unused facade surfaces, conversion areas can be created by using multifunctional facade components, especially in densely populated areas. However, the use of the necessary multifunctional components with current BIM-based working methods is complicated and costly, which is why the use of facade surfaces for energy generation in urban areas has not been able to establish itself on a large scale so far. The reasons for the complexity of the application of such components are numerous. Yet, the main points to be mentioned are the strong necessary cross-company and cross-disciplinary collaboration, the non-existent or insufficiently supported digital product descriptions and the flood of information that is created by such complex products, which makes it difficult for planners to have an overview of the project from certain perspectives. Although these challenges become particularly apparent when considering multifunctional building components, they affect the entire construction process, in principle.
In the SCOPE research project, solutions are developed that relate to the product and building life cycle. These solutions focus on application-independent data management, which facilitates the cooperation between different project partners that are not using the same software applications. For this purpose, data schemes for the description of the product and project data, as well as concepts for decentralized data management (e.g., for a product data catalog), are developed. In order to guarantee data security, concepts for data management are provided with access rights management systems and interfaces for secure data exchange. In order to make the product and building model data easy to use, pre-processing routines for reducing information and transforming data are designed. Such routines are to be structured modularly to allow high reusability and a wide field of application. The developed methods and concepts are demonstrative implementations and shall be used in example projects. Findings on possible improvements that are gained from these test runs will be taken into account in iteration steps for the further development of the methods in the course of the project.
The joint research project is being carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, the Institute for Numerical Methods and Computer Science in Civil Engineering at Darmstadt University of Technology and Ed. Züblin AG. In addition, associated partners from the disciplines under consideration, as well as ITC Engineering GmbH & Co KG, are involved in the programming.
The joint project is funded by the Federal Republic of Germany with the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy.
Institute for Numerical Methods and Computer Science in Civil Engineering
The Institute for Numerical Methods and Computer Science in Civil Engineering focuses on research and teaching with computer-based methods for modeling and simulation of engineering tasks. The focus point includes conception, development, and application of modern procedures and methods of information and communication technology for the planning, construction, and use of buildings and their interactions with the environment.
Fraunhofer ISE
Fraunhofer ISE is committed to a sustainable, economical, safe, and socially fair energy supply system. It creates the technical prerequisites for efficient and environmentally friendly energy supply, both in industrialized as well as in emerging and developing countries. With its research focus on energy generation, energy efficiency, energy distribution, and energy storage, the institute develops materials, components, systems, and processes in twelve business units. Scientific expertise, methods, and equipment from eleven fields of competence are used. In addition to research and development, Fraunhofer ISE offers its customers testing and certification processes.
Within the business field of energy-efficient buildings, our range of services extends from the development of sun protection and daylighting systems, planning support in the development of building concepts, monitoring, and operational management, to short-term mobile measurements on-site. In the implementation of construction projects, we offer planning, consulting, and concept development for all questions concerning energy and user comfort. Our strengths lie in the area of light simulation, room climate analysis, and detailed modeling of complex energy supply systems. In addition to the application in real projects, we also work on the further development of simulation tools for our customers.
The development, evaluation, and optimization of active facade components are part of the range of services offered by the two business segments Solar Thermal Facades and Building Integrated Photovoltaics. Fraunhofer ISE also supports construction projects in these two areas, from the planning, economic, and energetic preliminary assessment to the detailed technical implementation of active facade systems. Monitoring and quality assurance are also part of the service portfolio of both business units.
Ed. Züblin AG
For more than 120 years, Ed. Züblin AG has been successfully realizing challenging construction projects at home and abroad and, with an annual construction output of approx. € 4.4 billion, is the number one in building construction and civil engineering. As a member of the globally active STRABAG SE, Ed. Züblin AG owes its success to the inventiveness and commitment of around 14,000 employees, who, like a large team, also realize complex construction projects through entire processes on schedule and at the best price. Our range of services includes all construction-related tasks – from complex turnkey construction, civil engineering, bridge or tunnel construction, or special civil engineering, to construction logistics, structural timber engineering and public-private partnerships. ZÜBLIN attaches great importance to cooperation in partnership when realizing projects. With the ZÜBLIN teamconcept, the company has a partnering model that has proven itself on the market for more than 25 years, which, in addition to high-quality standards, guarantees cost and schedule security at a very early stage. We believe in the power of the team, and our team is exactly what makes the difference to create something extraordinary.