An Experimental Study on a Microclimatic Layer of a Bionic Facade Inspired by Vertical Greenery

作者：Suklje Tomaz; Medved Saso; Arkar Ciril^*

来源：Journal of Bionics Engineering, 2013, 10(2): 177-185.

DOI：10.1016/S1672-6529(13)60213-9

• green facade
• adaptive facade
• bionic leaf
• PV cooling
• evaporative cooling
• PV cell temperature

A microclimatic layer of the green facade is proven to have specific temperature and flow conditions on the building envelope. Lower temperatures and wind velocities, and higher relative humidity in the microclimatic layer are the characteristics of vertical greenery systems, which cause lower energy consumption for the cooling and heating of buildings. Despite innovative architectural solutions, there are some drawbacks to applying vertical greenery on building envelopes. In this study, a bionic facade that mimics the positive effects and eliminates the disadvantages of green facades is presented. The bionic facade consists of bionic leaves, which are made of photovoltaic cells and evaporative matrices. A real scale experiment was carried out in the summer to evaluate the potential of the cooling efficiency of the microclimatic layer and a new photovoltaic cooling technique. The results show a good agreement of the thermal performance between the bionic and the green facade and up to 20.8 K lower surface temperatures of photovoltaic cells, which increase the daily electricity yield by 6.6%.

• 出版日期2013-4