Current efforts to improve building envelopes mostly focus on reducing energy demand by static measures such as insulation, selective glazing and shading. The resulting envelopes are limited in adapting to weather conditions or occupants’ needs and leave vast potentials for energy savings, onsite energy generation and improvement of occupant comfort untapped. In this work, we report on a dynamic building envelope that utilizes lightweight modules based on a hybrid hard/soft-material actuator to actively modulate solar radiation for local energy generation, passive heating, shading and daylight penetration. We describe two envelope prototypes and demonstrate autonomous solar tracking in real weather conditions. The dynamic photovoltaic envelope achieves an increase of up to 50% in electricity gains as compared to a static photovoltaic envelope. We assess energy savings potentials for three locations, six construction periods and two building use types. The envelope is most effective in temperate and arid climates, in which, for the cases analyzed, it can provide up to 115% of the net energy demand of an office room.

当前改善建筑物围护结构的努力主要集中在通过诸如绝缘，选择性玻璃和遮阳的静态措施来减少能源需求。由此产生的围护结构在适应天气条件或乘员的需求方面受到限制，并且在节约能源，现场发电和改善乘员舒适性方面留下了巨大的潜力。在这项工作中，我们报告了一个动态建筑围护结构，该围护结构利用基于混合硬/软材料驱动器的轻型模块来主动调制太阳辐射，以产生局部能量，被动加热，遮蔽和日光穿透。我们描述了两个包络线原型，并演示了在实际天气条件下的自动太阳跟踪。与静态光伏封套相比，动态光伏封套可实现高达50％的电量增加。我们评估了三个地点，六个建设时期和两种建筑使用类型的节能潜力。信封在温带和干旱气候下最有效，在这种情况下，对于所分析的情况，它最多可提供办公室房间净能源需求的115％。