EU publications

Building active steel skin (BASSE)

Study

Publication metadata

The objective of the project was to develop a biomimetic energy harvesting system having the dual function of being the enclosing envelope of the building and the main provider of heating, cooling and hot water requirements for buildings. The system should be suitable for three climatic regions, Southern (Spain/Italy), Northern (Sweden) and Temperate Europe (UK) During the first half of the project technology options were evaluated based upon state of the art and a workshop held with industry specialists to gather important stakeholders’ requirements. From these inputs, Key Performance... Indicators (KPI’s) were developed setting the objectives for further development of the BASSE system. The BASSE system as defined comprises three main elements: A sandwich panel solar collector; A heat pump system including energy storage; A control and management system. A range of concepts were developed relating to each of these subassemblies and for the system as a whole. These were evaluated, using various methods including thermal analysis, against the key performance indicators, the expertise present within the project partners and the consideration of the existing steel sandwich panel manufacturing process. A BASSE system description including the above components was developed for a residential building, to show a real world scenario for the integration of the proposed BASSE system. A prototype of the system was developed, manufactured and installed on the Kubik test facility in Derio, Spain. The installation was used to validate the theoretical models developed to predict the system performance and refine the installation procedures for the system.