INTELLIGENT SKIN AND OCCUPANCY IN THE CONTEXT OF INCREASING ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN BUILDINGS

The intelligent building skin has multiple roles. One of them is the ability to control energy flows in the building. The concept of intelligent skin is related to its responsive performance, sometimes but not always in relation to the energy performance o f the whole building, and can be compared with the biological idea of intelligence and response. This paper analyzes the role of the active facade as the part of an intelligent envelope in controlling the required amount of energy for heating. The active facade has the function to reduce the internal temperature in the rooms that have not been occupied for a long period of time and thus reduce the amount of energy required for heating the building. Energy requirements were calculated with EnergyPlus simulation software for typical residential building in Serbia. It is shown that the appropriate response of the opaque part of intelligent skin to occupancy can result in annual heating energy reduction of up to 8.8% or 3.51kWh/m2a.