Rethinking the building envelope: Building integrated energy positive solutions

Abstract

This paper discusses information from a research project investigating a new approach to designing energy positive buildings that integrate renewable energy generation into the building fabric. Such buildings can help reduce energy consumption and associated carbon emissions, alleviating fuel poverty and lessening the need for costly grid upgrades. The main purpose of this study is to highlight the current status of the UK construction industry and the need for improvements, which have been documented over the years. Several enablers for the construction industry to change are identified, including collaborative procurement methods, building information modelling (BIM), innovation and energy positive buildings. The key findings from the review provide evidence that the energy positive solutions put forward in this research project, linking collaboration, innovation and buildings with reduced energy use and carbon emissions, could be used to improve the overall performance of the construction industry. This provides a good knowledge base for the next phase of the research, which includes interviews and workshops with construction industry stakeholders to further identify the challenges, benefits and drawbacks of the potential building integrated energy positive solutions. The combined body of information gleaned from this literature review, the feedback from construction industry stakeholders, and case studies of energy positive buildings designed by the first author, will be used to aid the development of the proposed outcomes of the research project, which will include a continuous improvement tool, the case studies themselves and the development of an innovation portal.