Smart Coatings for Buildings & Artificial Skins

Coated surfaces with integrated functionalities have been subject to intensive research and development for multiple applications, especially in the automotive and wearables sector. Also in other sectors there is a growing interest in thin and flexible touch and proximity sensors, shape changing actuators, light emitting surfaces, heating surfaces and color changing coatings. This presentation elucidates the potential capabilities of such smart coatings when integrated into artificial skins of future building envelopes. Today, these are mostly built static with fixed structural-physical properties. Thus, they cannot automatically adapt to changing environmental conditions or individual comfort requirements of the building inhabitants. Instead, they require complex technical installations that use up space and entail a considerable weight gain through external actuation devices. By reducing energy and material resources, artificial skins with surface-integrated functionality could help to overcome these obstacles and move the architectural and building industry towards more lightweight and highly-integrated multi-functional envelope constructions.