Blinds & Shutters met with Somfy to discuss Bioclimatic architecture and the moves the company  has taken to educate the industry about its benefits

Somfy has taken further action towards green solutions and advanced facades, by taking an interest in Bioclimatic Architecture and developing a new publication aimed at everyone interested in learning about Bioclimatic building principals.
The new book – produced in collaboration with Alain Liebard and Andre de Herde (renowned authors of Treatise on bioclimatic architecture and town planning) – explores the key principals of Bioclimatic architecture and is available free of charge to Somfy customers and industry partners.

Essentially, the bioclimatic facade is the point at which a building’s interior and exterior meet, where natural and man-made environments come together. Externally, climate patterns continuously vary according to changes in season, weather and day or night. Internally conditions change according to building use, day-to-day activities and occupancy. For over 40 years the Somfy Group has been developing solutions that aim to provide  ‘low energy houses and positive-energy buildings, which meet the challenges of lowering energy bills and CO2 emissions whilst simultaneously improving occupants’ comfort. Sustainable development is a concept that has become increasingly important in architectural design today because of both economic and environmental factors. In office building design, for example, the trend for highly glazed buildings offers the benefits of transparency, access to daylight and a sense of connection between indoor and outdoor environments for occupants. Despite the obvious energy issues, fully glazed facades can present a huge challenge in terms of combining energy consumption with thermal comfort. The trend for this type of building is set to continue and Somfy’s new Bioclimatic Book highlights the importance of specifying the right solutions. It explains the challenges of delivering comfort in buildings with highly glazed facades, which are exposed to direct and reflected solar radiation. It also illustrates how the use of movable solar shading can be an essential way of facilitating visual comfort in highly glazed buildings.

Bioclimatic design can be split into three main areas, Daylight Management, Heating & Cooling and Natural Ventilation and as such the book is split into three main sections: The Natural Lighting Strategy, Heating & Cooling Strategies and Natural Ventilation in addition to chapters on Bioclimatic Architecture and Architectural solutions. The book is clearly structured making it easy for the reader to navigate from one chapter to the next and target specific areas. The mix of left hand page copy and right hand page images and diagrams lends itself well to the subject, ensuring the reader receives information clearly which is an achievement considering the depth of the subject area.

A look at some solutions:
The book highlights the increasing advantages that are associated with automatically controlled solar shading and windows, and the opportunities that are available to those who want to maximise their use. Innovations such as Somfy’s Animeo product range are developing at a fast pace. A range of control systems are now available which offer flexible, scalable solutions for both new applications and retrofit installations. Each system has been designed to effectively manage solar shading by regulating light, temperature fluctuations and improve air quality throughout the building. Shades and windows can be controlled in accordance with temperature and prevailing daylight levels contributing towards more energy saving and comfort for occupants. Animeo systems offer maximum flexibility and can be adjusted and configured to match the changing demands of a wide variety of buildings. From Somfy’s proprietary systems, which include animeo Solo, Compact and IB+ Premium for controlling between 1-16 zones, to open platforms including animeo KNX and animeo Lon for seamless integration of shading with lighting and other building control systems. Another additional feature is that Animeo solutions are compatible with all types of interior and exterior solar shading and window opening devices.

Proprietary Systems
Animeo Solo is an entry point system designed for small commercial building applications with 1-2 zones and amongst other benefits it operates 400 to 800 AC, DC or DCE (Encoder) motors and is available with local, wireless radio control (RTS).  Animeo Compact is as a high performance, economic solution for medium sized commercial building projects with 1-4 zones and a simple architecture. Amongst other benefits this system reduces air conditioning requirements by limiting overheating and optimising the use of natural light. This system operates up to 1,600 AC, DC or DCE (Encoder) motors and local, wireless radio control (RTS) is available. Animeo IB+ Premium is as a cost effective, stand alone control system which offers increased performance and more functionality for larger buildings with 1-16 zones and a more complex architecture. This is a high performance solution providing comfort, security and energy savings along with other commonly requested control functionalities. Animeo systems work by adjusting shades according to external weather conditions and indoor climate requirements such as building occupancy, temperature and interface with lighting/BMS.

Open Platforms
Animeo KNX is a flexible, open system designed to provide more complex control and integration of blinds with other building control systems using a KNX bus. Solar shading and windows on the facade are managed in accordance with lighting, air conditioning and heating systems for optimised building performance. Each motor controller has motor outputs to control four individual configurable solar protection or window opening devices. Eight local push button inputs that can be used as universal binary KNX inputs and an animeo radio card (RTS) can be connected for local, wireless remote control at any time, providing flexibility to the client as the building development evolves. Animeo LON is a flexible open system designed to provide more complex control and integration of blinds with other building services, suitable for large building projects with an unlimited number of zones using a LON bus. Solar shading and window opening devices on the facade are managed in accordance with lighting, air conditioning and heating systems for optimised building performance. Through the Somfy Subnet technology, max. 20 motor outputs and 40 universal binary inputs are available by using only one animeo LON device (1 node). Upgrade functions include Sun Tracking, Zone Synergy etc.  And again, the animeo radio (RTS) card can be connected for local, wireless remote control at any time.

New architecture website
To explore the systems above in greater detail please visit Somfy’s newly launched website at www.somfyarchitecture.co.uk. The site not only highlights all the company’s blind control, automated solar shading and facade management systems but also educates the visitor about Daylight Management, Heating & Cooling Strategies, Natural Ventilation, Commercial Building Solutions and Residential Solutions amongst other subjects. This is achieved through a combination of video,photography and diagrams focussing on, amongst other things, projects where Somfy controls have been utilised to great effect including The Daimler Chrysler Building in Taiwan and The Conrad Hotel in Shanghai. The site is easily navigable and will serve as an invaluable source of information for all architects and those who work specifically on shading solutions.