Project description
Novel materials for energy efficient building facades
Building facades are a critical element of building design. Beyond aesthetics, they are the interface between the indoor and outdoor environment. Controlling heat gain and loss, and allowing for natural light and ventilation, building facades have a significant impact on occupant health and wellbeing. The EU-funded ZERAF project will propose a new approach. By using novel materials, including smart shape memory alloys and bio-based polyurethanes, and taking inspiration from industries such as aerospace, biomedicine and nanomaterials, ZERAF aims to create an adaptive opaque facade that can control heat transfer mechanisms to a significant degree. The project will manufacture prototypes and subject them to rigorous testing, while also quantifying sustainability parameters throughout the building lifecycle.
Objective
Building market demands high indoor environmental quality but is under the pressure of energy price volatility, European policies, targeting a carbon neutral building stock by 2050, and local building regulations. A drastic carbon footprint reduction on the EU building stock is only possible with: (i) a strong reduction of heating and cooling energy demand and (ii) the limitation of the embodied environmental impacts of building materials. We propose a disruptive facade concept, the ZERo-carbon building enabler Adaptive opaque Facade (ZERAF), to get a huge decrease in the operational energy demand, while reducing the environmental impact of new and existing buildings through novel materials. ZERAF concept enables shifting the opaque building faade systems from being static thermal barriers to thermal modulators. The disruptive configurations of opaque faade technology and the use of novel materials (smart Shape Memory Alloys, and new generation bio-based polyurethanes) enable such a dynamic thermal control. Moreover, ZERAF minimizes the number of primary sources (in terms of volume and diversity) and then of the embodied carbon. ZERAF radically reconceptualizes the adaptive opaque facades concept, taking the opportunity of doing high-risk/low-TRL research in an interdisciplinary environment to bring cutting edge novelties from aerospace, biomedicine, nanomaterials, chemistry and IOT to building sector. The objective is to scientifically prove that ZERAF concept can control all heat transfer mechanisms in opaque building faades to a significant level. Prototypes will be manufactured for the first time and their thermal behaviour will be characterized in a dedicated laboratory coupling a calorimeter and a continuous sun simulator. To prove that used materials, fabrication processes and assembly methods do not jeopardize the carbon footprint reduction, most relevant sustainability parameters will be quantified through a building life cycle method.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences internet internet of things
- natural sciences chemical sciences polymer sciences polyurethane
- engineering and technology nanotechnology nano-materials
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-EIC - HORIZON EIC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-EIC-2022-PATHFINDEROPEN-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
39100 Bolzano
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.