The main educational objective of the course is to make the students learn:

- the main technologies of the modern building envelope construction, from traditional to innovative materials;

- basic and advanced design strategies for the building enevelope., with detailed focus regarding mechanical, thermal and safety perfomances;

- how to designa and manage the main technical interfaces between the building skin and the other principal parts of the building, like the structure and the mechanical equipment.

At the and of the course the students will acquire theoretical and technical skills that will make them able to manage the detailed design of a building façade through:

- teamwork and studio-based activities;

- learning of the main computer tools and softwares for modelling the thermal and mechanical perfomances of the envelope system.

The course is mainly divided between frontal lessons and practice exercises.

A first set of frontal lessons will be dedicated to introduce terminology and normative frame which will be used during the entire course.

Later on lessons will focus on engineering materials commonly used in the building envelope, dealing particularly with their mechanical, chemical and physical properties, detailing durability performances.

Lessons will be dedicated to introduce and detail the main building envelope techniques: windows, doors, curtain walling and ventilated claddings.

Dynamic and interactive facades will be presented and investigated in details, also explaining construction details, introducing mechanical, thermal and environmental performances of different faces systems and types..

Technical and construction details of facade engineering will be explained and applied, particularly dealing with the physical and geometrical interface between the envelope and other systems and  parts of the building.

Mechanical modelling of glass will be introduced during the course as well as modelling of thermal performance of facades. The integration in the building envelope of the use of renewable energy resources will be investigated in details. Moreover strategies and techniques against overheating and shading will be explained also in conformity with building regulation requirements.

 The course will also focus on sustainability and sustainability applied to the building envelope, detailing materials and techniques referred to main known and applied protocols, such as LEED..

Frontal lessons will be integrated with a series of practice exercises, seminars and visit on site, at companies and laboratories working in the field of the building envelope industry.

The student will be guided during the exercises by assigning a technical exercise (normally the exercise will be developed in group of 4 students as maximum). The exercise shall be completed by the student before the exam.

Student’s evaluation will be done orally, based on the entire course program; the evaluation of the exercise contributes to the final evaluation of the student.

The oral test is based on:

• theoretical questions on topics covered in the programme
• questions intended to reveal the student's ability to connect the various topics covered in the programme with one another and with previous studies
• assessment (group or individual) of the activities performed in the  project workshop.