Arup presents the microalgae façade system at the International trade show ‘BouwBeurs’ in the Netherlands.
Jan Wurm, Research Leader of Arup's Europe region, will speak at the trade show about the zero-energy house that will act as a real-life test for the world’s first bio-adaptive façade system that uses live microalgae to provide shade and generate renewable energy at the same time.
The façade concept is designed so that algae in the bio-reactor façades grow faster in bright sunlight to provide more internal shading. The ‘bio-reactors’, which house the algae, not only produce biomass that can subsequently be harvested, they also capture solar thermal heat. Both energy sources can be used to power the building.