ZERo-carbon building enabling Adaptive opaque Facade technology

Project Information

ZERAF

Grant agreement ID: 101098490

DOI

10.3030/101098490

EC signature date 16 December 2022

Start date 1 February 2023

End date 31 January 2027

Funded under

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Total cost

€ 3 052 336,25

EU contribution

€ 3 052 336,25

Coordinated by

ACCADEMIA EUROPEA DI BOLZANO
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - ZERAF (ZERo-carbon building enabling Adaptive opaque Facade technology)

Reporting period: 2024-02-01 to 2025-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

ZERAF (ZERo-carbon building enabler Adaptive opaque Facade) is a new concept for building facades that aims to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings in the EU. Using innovative materials and dynamic thermal control systems, ZERAF transforms opaque building facades from static thermal barriers to thermal modulators. It does so by bringing together cutting-edge knowdglege from diverse fields, such as aerospace, biomedicine, nanomaterials, chemistry, and IoT, to reconceptualise the adaptive opaque facade concept. It involves high-risk/low-TRL research in an interdisciplinary environment to bring innovative solutions to the building sector. The expected impact is the strong reduction of heating and cooling energy demand of buildings, while minimizing the embodied carbon. If the technology is largely applied in new buildings and in retrofits, it will have a major impact on the environment and on the European economy and society in terms of (i) reducing of the operational energy consumption of buildings, thereby downsizing of electricity bills and dependence on petrol and gas; (ii) minimizing of the carbon footprint of both new and existing buildings, thus combating climate change; (iii) generating new products for the building industry which creates new jobs, stakeholders and innovative and sustainable European industrial lines and (iv) creating New European Bauhaus compliant architectural styles. ZERAF technology can be applied to any building (new or existing) that has a significant proportion of opaque façade, thanks to the modularity and the adaptability of the technology to diverse contexts. ZERAF will also bring completely new aesthetics to the cities, offering a wide range of design options: ZERAF facade cladding can have endless geometric patterns and designers will have the freedom to use different materials, coatings and colours, in line with the New European Bauhaus initiative. The versatility of the technology will enable its adaptation to be deployed in several climatic areas, guaranteeing a Just Energy Transition to all. In terms of new product creation, the envisaged technology brings new formulations of polyurethanes and shape memory alloys (SMA) that will boost advanced materials manufacturing in EU. This will open new markets compatible with new industrial processes for bioPUR and SMA building actuators, creating jobs in the chemistry and materials science sectors. Moreover, it is expected that different materials will be suitable for the developed technology according to the different climates, building uses and material availability in the geographical area. This will generate a large and diversified market in Europe. New markets and jobs will also be established thanks to the novel dynamic characteristics of opaque façade technologies: the management of ZERAF will require interdisciplinary expertise in automation, thermodynamics and building physics and new business models able to exploit the co-benefits of the ZERAF technology will be needed.
The aim of the EIC-EU funded project is to scientifically prove that the ZERAF concept can significantly control all heat transfer mechanisms in opaque building facades. For the first time, prototypes will be manufactured and their thermal behaviour will be characterised in a dedicated laboratory. This characterisation will allow the validation of advanced simulation models at building and component scale. In order to demonstrate that the materials, manufacturing processes and assembly methods used do not compromise the reduction of the carbon footprint, key sustainability parameters will be quantified using a building life cycle analysis.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project has delivered proof of concept for the innovative ZERo-carbon Building Enabler Adaptive Opaque Façade (ZERAF). This technology integrates bioPUR-based active insulation, kinetic cladding actuated by Shape Memory Alloys, and an intelligent algorithm-driven control system enabling dynamic heat flux modulation. Materials, geometries, and configurations were mapped and evaluated through life cycle and cost analyses, supported by component-level simulations confirming the ability to actively control all heat transfer mechanisms—radiation, conduction, and convection—across the façade. Prototype development included SMA actuators, kinetic cladding assemblies, and bioPUR insulation panels incorporating up to 10% recycled content without compromising foam quality or thermal performance. Full-scale prototypes for both new construction and retrofit applications were assembled and tested under diverse boundary conditions, validating system integration and functional robustness. Laboratory experiments demonstrated ZERAF’s capacity for dynamic heat flux modulation, while a comprehensive life cycle and cost analysis framework was established to benchmark performance against state-of-the-art façade technologies, identifying optimization needs to ensure scalability and environmental benefits. Additionally, preliminary building-level simulations indicated significant potential to reduce heating and cooling energy demand in buildings located in specific climates.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The opaque building facades available on the market are completely static, while the research world is still struggling to find an effective and reliable adaptive opaque facade concept. Some of these concepts have been patented but have not been commercialised. Existing adaptive opaque façade concepts have either focused solely on developing a technology to achieve adaptive control of heat transfer, or they have followed the state-of-the-art design approach to ensure that all façade requirements are met. However, the addition of a new requirement (adaptive control of heat transfer) would be unsustainable from the outset if a common multi-layer approach was followed, as it would require additional components to operate (actuators, sensors, wiring and data post-processing elements). Until now, the positive effect of modulating and controlling simultaneously the three types of heat transfer (radiation, convection and conduction) in the opaque part of facades was only estimated using theoretical data and non-validated calculations. The ZERAF project is a breakthrough as it has been the first to build, test and characterise this type of opaque façade system. Such a scientific-technological breakthrough is a major step forward for science, allowing further studies based on reliable data. It will also explain how this novel technology concept eliminates the need for heating and cooling systems in certain buildings and climates. The innovative technology radically reconceptualises adaptive opaque façades, moving from the current multi-layer façade approach to a façade system that seeks the minimum number of materials possible thanks to the integration of two low TRL key enabling materials and associated manufacturing processes: the bio-polyurethane and Shape Memory Alloy based actuators.

ZERAF concept design

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