abstract
The envelope of multi-storey residential buildings offers an untapped potential for the integration of regenerative energy supply systems. Due to their specific assembly, rear-ventilated façades exhibit particularly suitable features in this regard: high design flexibility, modularity, easy installation and maintenance and the possibility to hide the systems engineering in the ventilation gap. We analyze solar thermally activated façade claddings made of glass, concrete and metal by means of FEM modeling as well as laboratory and in-situ experimental tests on large-sized prototypes, focusing on thermal performance and reliability. We report very different characteristic values, depending on the specific cladding design and on the approach used for the activation: zero-loss coefficient eta\_0 ranges from 0.48 to 0.78. Based on these results, the potential of the façades as heat pump sources is assessed by building simulations with the software TRNSYS for different configurations of the heat supply system.