ARTICLES

ARTICLES

Thoughts, analyses and background on windows, FVS, façades and building energy balances.

WINDOWS

A window combines transmission heat loss, solar access and time-dependent behaviour.

Overview article

Windows: Energy Balance Rather Than U-Value

Why the energy performance of a window becomes clear only when heat losses, solar gains and time are considered together.

Read article

The U-value describes a component. The balance describes its effect.

Windows / Scientific Article

Why It Feels Colder Near the Window – Even When the Room Temperature Is Right

A scientific overview of radiative heat exchange, cold downdraught, floor temperatures and thermal comfort near windows

Read article

FVS

Dynamic thermal protection as a switchable multicavity assembly—from the physical principle to practical application.

Overview article

FVS – How Does Dynamic Thermal Protection Work?

How multiple metallised films, relatively still air layers and two operating states change heat transfer—and what has already been measured.

Read article

Thermal protection as an operating state suited to the situation.

FVS / Research Review

Interior Thermal Protection for Windows – What Scientific Studies Actually Show

An overview of experimental measurements, multilayer air cavities, heat losses and thermal comfort in winter

Read article

FVS / Technical Article

How Much Can Dynamic Thermal Protection Improve an Existing Window?

Theoretical Thermal Resistances, U-Values and the Influence of Lateral Air Gaps in Multilayer Film-Based Thermal Protection Systems

Read article

FAÇADE

U-value, sunlight, orientation, thermal mass and time considered together.

Overview article

Façade: From Insulation Surface to Adaptive Building Component

Why U-value, solar radiation, orientation, thermal mass and time must be considered together.

Read article

A façade becomes adaptive when its thermal function can adjust to changing environmental and building conditions.

ENERGY BALANCE / WHOLE BUILDING

Heat-input pathways, building thermal mass and the use of surplus photovoltaic energy.

Scientific and Technical Article

How Much Heat Can a Building Actually Store in Six Hours?

A building may contain substantial thermal mass, but only part of it can be activated within a limited period. This article compares room air, direct thermal radiation and direct activation of a screed layer over six hours.

Read article

Scientific and Technical Article

Store PV Electricity – Without a Battery?

Using building mass for surplus PV is not only a question of storage capacity. The instantaneous rate at which heat can be absorbed also matters, especially when PV output changes rapidly.

Read article