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The Facade Tectonics Institute (FTI) 2026 World Congress wrapped up four days in Pittsburgh with researchers and industry experts exploring how façades can do more than enclose buildings, including helping generate energy and reduce energy consumption.
The biennial event featured factory tours, a robotics and construction workshop, networking events and more than two dozen academic sessions covering energy to circularity, bird-friendly glass, façade service life, thermal performance, Passive House retrofits and other topics. The final day of sessions offered several discussions on the ongoing research and development to turn facades into energy-generating components that help reduce energy consumption.
Reshma Krishnan Madathil, an MSCA postdoctoral fellow at the University of Navarra in Spain, spoke about research that she and several academic peers at Navarra and the University of Utah are conducting to analyze the viability of thermoelectric (TE) technology embedded in buildings.
Generating Electricity via Thermoelectric Power
While photovoltaic systems are not new, TE technology remains mostly experimental. It uses temperature differences to generate electricity or electrical current to provide heating and cooling.
Madathil states that when the Building Integrated Thermoelectric System (BITES) project team started thinking about integrating this technology into buildings, and after years of experience developing different kinds of prototypes and trying to identify their limitations, they identified a research gap: There is no comparative framework for integrating this kind of technology into different building-envelope components.
Madathil notes that, for example, when you want to integrate TE technology into window frames, spandrel panels, transition zones, etc., these components have not been ranked for their suitability. Using this research gap, the study proposed a hierarchical integration strategy to determine which building-envelope components are more compatible with integrating this kind of technology.
Madathil’s research evaluated three component types:
Madathil says the research shows that vision glazing is currently impractical because commercially available TE modules are not transparent, while window frames offer limited space and can accommodate only smaller modules. Transition zones can provide larger temperature differences but present challenges because their dimensions and geometries are not standardized. The research identifies spandrel panels as the most viable location for TE integration.
Madathil says spandrels offer a greater available area and cavity depth than window frames, can accommodate multiple module sizes and provide a stable thermal environment. The approach could be used in new construction and retrofit applications.
The study’s abstract notes that recent research indicates that TE integration into transparent envelopes is possible, but challenges remain. The researchers write that “semi-transparent TE materials are being developed for power generation applications, while commercial bismuth telluride modules have been tested in window frames and opaque facade components for heating and cooling applications. Facade-integrated prototypes have demonstrated heating outputs of 66.8–273.6 W per module in Mediterranean climates. However, condensation on cooled surfaces, spatial constraints in slim glazing, complex electrical routing and architectural integration difficulties linked to transparency are the challenges associated with glazing integration.”
Tracking the Sun
Another entry into the solar capture market is an early-stage adaptive photovoltaic façade system called SOLARA. According to the study’s abstract, the system “combines a modular kinetic photovoltaic assembly, embedded sensing for monitoring, app-enabled control and a proposed adaptive learning layer.” Yilin Zheng, computational designer at HKS | LINE, and Victoria Lopez, a facade consultant, discussed the research behind SOLARA’s development during the World Congress.
Zheng, Lopez and Johny Lopez, a computer scientist, are exploring whether a building façade can move beyond being a static enclosure and instead respond to environmental conditions (nearby buildings, shadows, cloud cover, temperature and other localized conditions) while generating electricity and reducing building energy use. The work is currently at the proof-of-concept stage.
Victoria Lopez says the project comes as cooling demand rises, particularly in regions experiencing extreme heat. Increased cooling loads can raise building operating costs while putting additional pressure on the electrical grid. She states that building envelopes can play a larger role in addressing these problems by improving energy performance while also participating in renewable-energy generation.
Zheng explains that the SOLARA prototype is a modular, movable photovoltaic façade system designed as a secondary skin over a curtainwall, with individual solar panels mounted to single-axis motors that adjust their angle. Sensors collect performance data, which is routed through a microcontroller to software that controls panel movement and monitors system status and power output. The researchers aim to use machine learning to predict the optimal panel angle based on solar conditions, local environmental factors and actual photovoltaic performance.
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