Abstract The recent building practices have shown that aerogel glazings can be used as a multifunctional building envelope component for different purposes. Nevertheless, the distinctive physical properties and energy performance of aerogel glazings suggest that building integration of aerogel glazings may create architectural challenges, aesthetic problems, as well as concerns on their durability and environmental impact, thus highlighting the importance of developing guidelines to regulate the use of aerogel glazings in the building sector. This study discusses various approaches for the building integration of aerogel glazings by presenting a number of successful examples; the advantages of integration are quantified and…

Abstract Today energy-efficient and energy-harvesting buildings experience an ever-increasing interest and demand. Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) may in this respect represent a powerful and versatile tool for reaching the goal of zero energy and zero emission buildings. The BIPV systems replace the outer building envelope skin, thus serving simultanously as both a climate screen and a power source generating electricity. However, snow and ice formation on the exterior solar cell surfaces reduce their performance and may also lead to faster deterioration. Hence, if one could find a way to develop solar cells which were able to avoid snow and ice…