Façade Engineering

A façade in general, refers to the side of a building that that shows its ‘character and personality’. In most cases, it is found on the front side of a building. In addition to the overall aesthetics of the building, facades are also designed to contribute to the technical performance of the building.

In the past, facades were mainly expected to be durable and attractive. Today, they must also address issues such as, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, carbon footprint etc. To achieve these performance objectives, the art and science known as façade engineering, is applied.

On the artistic side, facades provide architects the opportunity to expression their skills by bringing a building into life aesthetically. Façade engineers, on the other hand, mainly contribute to the technical performance of the building by looking at, among others, the performance and structural behavior of building materials.

However, successful façade engineering teams must involve architects and engineers working together – from design stage to implementation.

Speakers and topics this week:

• Translating university research for structural silicones into new product ideas, Bruno Kassnel-Henneberg, Glas Trösch AG Isolier- und Sicherheitsglas.
•  Structural Silicone Glazing at 50 years, Jon Kimberlain represented by Adrienne Bowman-Grittini & Andrew Dunlap.
• Curved Glass: Modernizing Form and Function in Convex and Concave Applications, Javier Sanchez-Gil represented by Yago Martinez.
• Simplified Method to Evaluate Shadow Box Pressure-Temperature Relationships, Brian Koons & Glenn Johnson, Klein and Hoffman.