Schüco 2° Concept – a world novelty

To limit global warming to 2°C, CO₂ emissions have to be reduced by 80%.

To be a decisive step ahead: That is Schüco International KG’s incentive and objective – especially when it comes to climate protection. In its research and development of new energy-efficient, sustainable and simultaneously aesthetically pleasing solutions for the façade of the future, Schüco has come up with a groundbreaking innovation: Schüco 2° Concept – that’s the name of the building envelope concept presented for the first time at BAU 2009. The adaptive system is expected to reach market maturity by 2011. With the new concept, Schüco intends to make a contribution to limiting the average global temperature increase to two degrees Celsius.
A world novelty, the concept fulfills all essential functions for improving the energy balance of a building coupled with modern design and sophisticated architecture. The advantage for climate protection: It uses around 80 percent less energy for heating, cooling and air-conditioning than a 2009 German EnEV energy saving regulation reference project.

Interplay of walls – between coolness and warmth
A day has 24 hours. And a warm summer’s day in July poses different technical challenges than a bitterly cold December night. What is needed is an intelligent building envelope that adapts to these different conditions and uses them in the best possible way. Schüco 2° Concept comprises optic-ally opaque, i.e. non-transparent elements, as well as transparent components: the window openings. The innovative concept is based on the so-called layer principle: Depending on individual needs, functional elements from the opaque area are slid in front of the transparent part. Thus, an optimal energy balance is achieved in the build-ing and residents and users are provided with the utmost in comfort and convenience.
The Schüco 2° Concept consists of a large number of different intelligent layers. At night, when people not only desire height-ened thermal insulation but also seek security and visual cover, the mobile insulated  panel, which makes dynamic U-values possible, can be employed. When there is incident sunlight, the high-performance solar shading guarantees extremely efficient cooling load reduction – even when wind speeds are as high as 30 meters per second. And last but not least, the third “skin” of the adaptive concept, thin-film photovoltaics, integrates energy generation and can additionally be used as a semitransparent solar shading.

A clever combination with thermoactive components
There is an additional option: the opaque part can be used simultaneously as a thermoactive wall. Employed in this way, the functions of thermal insulation, heating and cooling, as well as decentralized ventila-tion with heat recovery and heat storage all come into play. With the innovative concept, unit sizes of up to six meters in width and three meters in height are possible. The components are very easy to install; they are simply hung in front of the respective body and affixed to it. Both regarding new buildings as well as concerning renovation work – Schüco 2° Concept invariably offers the appropriate intelligent solution. While today Schüco 2° Concept is a concept study and still in its infancy, tomorrow it will be an energy-efficient reality.