Algae facade : from sea weed to city grid

In the era of fossil fuel consumption and high CO2 levels in the atmosphere, for part of which the building sector is responsible, an early-stage design awareness is necessary. The main focus of this dissertation is theoretical design of a façade system that is capable of providing the building with green energy cycle. The building at hand, despite having a pre-set design, would no longer use fossil fuel but instead will produce and use its own energy equivalent as algae-based biomass, covering both electrical and heating consumption. Additionally, the system will work as a carbon-capturing technology, absorbing CO2 and transforming it into biomass and O2. The energy needs of the building are being assessed via simulations with pre-set parameters according to theoretical data and the available information for the weather conditions in Milan, Italy, where the building is to be executed. The primary and ultimate goal is to have the algae-based biomass produce enough energy to cover the building’s energy consumption and also provide a secondary by-factor advantage, of having the algae integration act as a shading system, leading to satisfactory indoor comfort quality. Since algae are a type of photoautropic organism, it is capable of providing shading due to their large light harvesting efficiency. The way that this dissertation is being addressed, is by initially calculating the energy needs of the building at hand. With the acquired knowledge about the algae strain, it was possible to study the exact amount of tubes necessary to produce an amount of algae capable of covering the building needs. Optimization was conducted in order to adjust the initial results and a final design was determined to balance the energy algae-biomass production with the optimal indoor user comfort level. In order for the algae to produce the energy in form of biomass, the algae undergo a series of processes, from the visible façade one to the hidden mechanical processes. The visible part allows the algae to absorb solar radiation and commence algae production via photosynthesis. This part also acts as the shading system. The hidden part of the algae system is designed to ensure an efficient and functional structure that allows algae movement, enrichment, biomass collection, harvesting and post-processing, and even reintroduction of algae in the façade design.

English thesis