Building Façade Retrofit: A Comparison Between Current Methodologies and Innovative Membranes Strategies for Overcoming the Existing Retrofit Constraints

Abstract

AbstractThe constant expansion of the cities outside their borders, together with the rapid growth of new technologies and the environmental impact of the building sector, make existing buildings quickly obsolete, both in terms of their functions and their performances. Achieving the goal for greenhouse gas reduction by 2030 implies the necessity to improve the energy performances of the building stock and, for doing so, to overcome the existing constraints that very often prevent builders, tenants and residents from undergoing a renovation process. Given also that the building renovation contributes in the up-cycle strategy of the building stock, avoiding the production of unnecessary waste caused by demolition processes, innovative fast and average costly solutions must be shaped in order to encourage building façade renovation processes at different scales of interventions. Considering that membranes present some inherent properties (such as lightness, thinness, fast assembly, etc.) that make them suitable for both temporary and permanent façade renovations and valuable for overcoming current retrofit constraints, their investigation is of primary interest in order to promote and achieve an extensive building façade renovation. Starting by the investigation of Textile-based Façade Retrofit Solutions (TFRS), this analysis aims at comparing current methodologies with innovative membranes retrofit strategies, in order to evaluate the effectiveness and advantages of textile-based products in overcoming existing constraints to façade retrofit. The main goal of the analysis is to present innovative membrane existing solutions for making building façades resilient and adaptable to the several requirements expected from time to time. The research highlights future developments for TFRS with regard to both temporary and permanent solutions through their employment over existing façades.