Energy Saving Aspects of Green Facades: Current Applications and Challenges

One of the most effective key methods to meet today’s increasing energy demands is to use resources efficiently. Especially in heating and cooling applications, notable energy savings are possible by efficient use of resources. For this purpose, insulation applications on building surfaces have been conducted for many years on a global scale. Besides, green facades are also considered to be one of the most suitable and efficient building cover technologies because of their superior benefits like energy saving, acoustic and thermal features, environmental aspects, and aesthetic appearance. Green facades are greenery media climbing over the facade, either traditionally or with special support structures. It is a highly preferred method in building coating applications, especially in recent years, but the initial installation and maintenance costs are somewhat expensive compared to traditional methods. Nevertheless, it still stands out as a cost-effective technology when its impacts on human health and environmental aspects are evaluated along with architectural features and social acceptance. Within the scope of this review, green facade systems are investigated in detail in terms of methodology, building applications, cost, challenges and potential solutions.

Systematic monitoring of the deformed state of long-length reinforced concrete structures with an assessment of their reliability

The article shows the method of systematic monitoring of the stress-strain state of reinforced concrete structures covering one of the operated public railway stations. The description of large-span structures of the building, their defects and damages acquired during the operation of the building is given. The article describes the methodology and methods used for long-term, more than 2 years, continuous monitoring of the deformed state of coating structures in operation. The most damaged structures are examined in detail with the help of installed devices to obtain accurate data. The features of measurements in different periods of time and time of year are described. Based on the results of the obtained measurements of the stress-strain state of the building coating structures, the possibility of their further operation is predicted, taking into account the defects and damages found during the survey.

Physical-mechanical performance criteria of cement-soil mortars for earth building coating

Soil as a mortar aggregate may improve the physical-mechanical compatibility between the coating system and earth-wall substrate, as well as present greater durability when stabilised with cement. Based on these concepts, the physical-mechanical behaviour of mortars comprising soil, cement, lime and admixture was analysed to be used as coating for earth constructions. Cement-soil mortars using the ratio of sandy soil equal to or less than 1:6 in the cement:soil dosage shows a potential for an application as earth wall coating. However, to improve its workability in the fresh state, it is necessary to add hydrated lime or chemical admixture at a limited proportion so it does not damage the physical performance of the mortar. To qualify the cement-soil mortars for earth building coating, the minimum requirements for volumetric shrinkage, tensile bond strength and compressive strength must be met simultaneously and the following criteria are indicated: minimum compressive strength of 4 MPa; zero volumetric shrinkage index and minimum tensile bond strength of 0.20 MPa.

Preparation and Electromagnetic Properties of CIP/ZnO Composites

CIP/ZnO electromagnetic functional composites with core-shell structure were prepared by chemical precipitation method, and then the morphology, structure and electromagnetic properties in 2-18GHz were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and vector network analyzer, respectively. In process by controlling the component ratio between core and shell, it has been found that the more ZnO particles were coated on the CIP surface, the smaller electromagnetic parameters become. Based with the Electromagnetic Wave Absorption (EMWA) Theory, the composites could prepare EMWA building coating by monolayer design, the theoretical simulation results show that the minimum RL of CIP/ZnO composites is-10.25dB, better than pure CIP particles, exhibiting excellent EMWA properties in 2-18GHz. The magnetic loss of CIP and the dielectric loss of ZnO were the main mechanisms of EMWA for the CIP/ZnO composites, which could be used for electromagnetic radiation protection.