SolAce is the latest temporary addition to NEST, a research and innovation building that is jointly operated by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) and the aquatic research institute Eawag. With SolAce, the two institutes are demonstrating how energy gain can be maximized from a building’s envelope while also optimizing interior comfort in an environmentally friendly way.
“Through its façade, ‘SolAce’ is to harvest more energy than the unit needs over the course of the year while at the same time providing the best comfort to the users,” Jean-Louis Scartezzini, director of the Solar Energy and Building Physics Laboratory at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and creator of the latest NEST unit, said in a press release.
The unit’s positive energy balance is achieved by producing solar electricity as well as hot water directly on the façade by means of photovoltaic modules and solar thermal collectors. They feature a novel type of nano-glazing for this purpose, in which the nanotechnology creates the colour effect.
Innovative sensors measure the indoor lighting conditions and glare from a user’s perspective, allowing them to control electric lighting and sun shading in the best possible way for optimal comfort.
Likewise, a micro-structured glazing on the interior of the glass ensures that the sun’s rays are directed into or away from the rooms depending on the season: in wintertime, the glass directs the light to the ceiling of the unit to heat up the rooms naturally, while in summer the glazing guides the sun’s rays away from the room to keep artificial cooling needs down to a minimum.
