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Dübendorf ZH – A new combined living and working unit is now being installed in the southwestern corner of the NEST research building. SolAce’s key feature is its façade, which is designed to ensure a positive energy balance and comfort throughout the year.

Maximum energy generation through the façade and maximum comfort inside the building are often seen as mutually exclusive needs. The new unit SolAce at the NEST modular research building in Dübendorf in the canton of Zurich aims to reconcile these two needs with its innovative façade system.

Developed by researchers from the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in close cooperation with numerous business partners, the façade produces electricity and hot water by means of coloured glazed photovoltaic modules and solar thermal collectors. 

What’s more, a new type of glazing with integrated micro-mirrors directs daylight differently into the rooms depending on the position of the sun, allowing the rooms to be additionally heated by the sun in winter. Conversely in summer, the heat is kept out as much as possible to reduce the need for cooling down to a minimum, explains the Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) in a statement

Construction on the new combined living and working unit is expected to last until summer 2018. When completed, it will offer workplaces for up to four people and residential space for one to two people.