ACTIVE INTERFACES Research Project
In a context marked by the search for the most efficient ways to achieve energy turnaround of Switzerland, the ACTIVE INTERFACES interdisciplinary research project – coordinated by the Laboratory of Architecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) – aim at developing new strategies for the concrete consideration of building-integrated photovoltaic systems (BIPV) into the urban renewal processes. A new website entitled www.activeinterfaces.ch constitute a specific support to follow the research work progression.
While still dependent on non-renewable primary energy sources (gas, oil and uranium), Switzerland is starting its energy transition. In this changing environment, the production of photovoltaic electricity has been multiplied by 6 between 2009 and 2012 and this increase is meant to last in the coming decades.
The issues, however, are not only quantitative but also qualitative. Currently, only a small potential percentage of building-integrated photovoltaic systems (BIPV) is valued in cities and urban areas. Among the issues to deal with, architectural issues are of paramount importance.
The emergence of new technologies and the inclusion of BIPV from the preliminary sketches suggest new paradigms for advanced integrated design. Exploring the challenges inherent in this development is at the heart of the ACTIVE INTERFACES interdisciplinary research project in the NRP 70, which focuses on the integration of BIPV into urban renewal process.
Realized with the support of the Swiss National Fund (SNF) in the framework of the National Research Programs "Energy Turnaround" (NRP 70), this research project gets together ten research groups specialized in theses issues. On November 20, the whole research team meets in Microcity, the EPFL antenna in Neuchâtel, to present the progress report to the NRP 70 management represented by Prof. Hans-Rudolf Schalcher, president of the Steering Committee, by Prof. Beat Hotz-Hart, member of the Steering Committee, by Stefan Husi, programme coordinator, and by Theres Paulsen, member of the knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) team of NRPs 70 and 71.