Work on Bio-composite/recyclable material transparent façade panels published in May 2007 issue of ARCC Journal.

Professor of Practice Harry Giles presented Transparent Façade Panels Typologies Based on Hybrid Bio-composite and Recyclable Polymer Materials at a 2006 international conference in Philadelphia sponsored by the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) and the European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE). The paper was judged by an international committee of organizers and researchers to be the best presented at the conference.

The paper, co-authored by Kyoung Hee Kim, describes the research and development of prototype façade panel systems, the evaluation of their structural and thermal performance, and their role in reducing energy consumption and pollution emission through life cycle analysis. The paper also highlights areas of ongoing research and applications for hybrid composite façade systems, which will make the approach a viable option for the building industry in the future. This sustainable façade panel system which was invented and is being developed as a building product at the College of Architecture was also one of the EPA P3 – (People, Prosperity and Planet) national project winners in 2006, with associated grant funding to sponsor development of the panel system for market.

Download the conference paper in PDF format (7.2Mb)