Development of an Effective R-Value for Bioinspired Façade Design

Bioinspired façade designs are recently gaining popularity as a potential energy efficient solution. However, the multimode or dynamic heat transfer effects achieved by the bioinspired designs are not quantified in terms of equivalent R-value, therefore in this study a thorough investigation is conducted into creating an effective R-value for bioinspired facade design. R-Value (reciprocal of U-Value) is conventionally used in building construction, which uses the static heat transfer method and does not consist of the dynamic behaviour of the design. The current study uses a computational modelling approach to find the effective R-Value of the bioinspired retroreflective façade for the UK weather condition. The result shows that the effective R-Value of the bioinspired retroreflective façade is 4.33 m2K/W for the non-heating season. The improvement of the U-Value to 0.23 W/m2K from 0.30 W/m2K is observed, which can help to reduce the summer heat gain of the building. The results of this study will help facades consultants and architects improve the energy effectiveness and general performance of buildings through bioinspired designs.