Glass Interactive Building Envelopes

The concept of tomorrow's towns and cities will be based on new social, economic and technological ideals focused on improving the quality of life. To attain this objective, architects and engineers of today must improve the quality of buildings and establish new principles of building conception. The quality of interior space and the impact of a building on its surroundings depends strongly on the physical interface that separates the outer environment from the inner building space. The conception and realisation of this interface (the envelope) are, therefore, of prime importance.

The application of glass as a structural material may seem surprising initially, yet pioneering glass structures were first built two decades ago already. Ever since, Structural Glass has been developing at a very high pace thanks to very intensive scientific and industrial research and new technological developments.Right at the heart of these rap

Although the disciplines of architecture and structural engineering have both experienced their own historical development, their interaction has resulted in many fascinating and delightful structures. To take this interaction to a higher level, there is a need to stimulate the inventive and creative design of architectural structures and to persuade architects and structural engineers to further collaborate in this process, exploiting together new concepts, applications and challenges. This set of book of abstracts and full paper searchable CD-ROM presents selected papers presented at the 3rd International Conference on Structures and Architecture Conference (ICSA2016), organized by the School of Architecture of the University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal (July 2016), to promote the synergy in the collaboration between the disciplines of architecture and structural engineering.

Protecting the natural environment and promoting sustainability have become important objectives, but achieving such goals presents myriad challenges for even the most committed environmentalist. American Environmentalism: Philosophy, History, and Public Policy examines whether competing interests can be reconciled while developing consistent, coherent, effective public policy to regulate uses and protection of the natural environment without destroying the national economy. It then reviews a range of possible solutions. The book delves into key normative concepts that undergird American perspectives on nature by providing an overview of philosophical concepts found in the western intellectual tradition, the presuppositions inherent in neoclassical economics, and anthropocentric (human-centered) and biocentric (earth-centered) positions on sustainability. It traces the evolution of attitudes about nature from the time of the Ancient Greeks through Europeans in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the American Founders, the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and up to the present. Building on this foundation, the author examines the political landscape as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), industry leaders, and government officials struggle to balance industrial development with environmental concerns. Outrageous claims, silly misrepresentations, bogus arguments, absurd contentions, and overblown prophesies of impending calamities are bandied about by many parties on all sides of the debate—industry spokespeople, elected representatives, unelected regulators, concerned citizens, and environmental NGOs alike. In lieu of descending into this morass, the author circumvents the silliness to explore the crucial issues through a more focused, disciplined approach. Rather than engage in acrimonious debate over minutiae, as so often occurs in the context of "green" claims, he recasts the issue in a way that provides a cohesive look at all sides. This effort may be quixotic, but how else to cut the Gordian knot?

As a result of changes in the composition of the population, society changes continuously with respect to various factors including age-structure, family composition and the availability of energy. Changes lead to situations that are reflected in the commissioning of buildings, which is gradually shifted from new construction to the reuse and renovation of existing buildings. The adaptation of buildings often requires the modification of facades and the construction behind. The scope of this action withinthe COST Transport and Urban Development Domain is to improve techniques and methods for envelopes of buildings constructed during the last half of the 20th century in the COST countries. In other words it is directed on the building envelopes of the so-clled non-traditional buildings. This publication is based on a support by COST, an intergovernmental European framework for international cooperation between nationally funded research activities. COST creates scientific networks and enables scientists tocollaborate in a wide spectrum of activities in research and technology.

As a result of changes in the composition of the population, society changes continuously with respect to various factors including age-structure, family composition and the availability of energy. Changes lead to situations that are reflected in the commissioning of buildings, which is gradually shifted from new construction to the reuse and renovation of existing buildings. The adaptation of buildings often requires the modification of facades and the construction behind. The scope of this action within the COST Transport and Urban Development Domain is to improve techniques and methods for envelopes of buildings constructed during the last half of the 20th century in the COST countries. In other words it is directed on the building envelopes of the so-called non-traditional buildings. This publication is based on a support by COST, an intergovernmental European framework for international cooperation between nationally funded research activities. COST creates scientific networks and enables scientists to collaborate in a wide spectrum of activities in research and technology.

As a result of changes in the composition of the population, society changes continuously with respect to various factors including age-structure, family composition and the availability of energy. Changes lead to situations that are reflected in the commissioning of buildings, which is gradually shifted from new construction to the reuse and renovation of existing buildings. The adaptation of buildings often requires the modification of facades and the construction behind. The scope of this action within the COST Transport and Urban Development Domain is to improve techniques and methods for envelopes of buildings constructed during the last half of the 20th century in the COST countries. In other words it is directed on the building envelopes of the so-called non-traditional buildings. This publication is based on a support by COST, an intergovernmental European framework for international cooperation between nationally funded research activities. COST creates scientific networks and enables scientists to collaborate in a wide spectrum of activities in research and technology.