Façade engineering association
Façade engineering is a collection of art, science and technique to solve the aesthetic, environmental and structural problems of building façades to achieve valuable and sustainable coverage. As architectural forms became larger and more complex, a new branch called façade engineering was formed, which requires sufficient knowledge in the fields of structure, energy, executive details, and architecture. The façade is now one of the inseparable components of the body of buildings, which, like other phenomena in world-class architecture, has a long and tumultuous history.
Here we define façade engineering and the duties and performance of façade engineers according to the standards of the façade engineering association.
What is façade engineering?
All the work that a façade consultant or façade contractor is expected to do from the beginning of the building façade contract to the installation is called façade engineering, including detail design, additional structural calculations, solving sealing details, repairing and shopping drawings, preparing material cutting drawings and installation.
Façades of buildings are one of the most expensive and potential elements of risk and failure in any large project. Historically, building façades have been given the highest priority for updating and adapting to the environment to improve thermal performance and prevent energy waste. In fact, façade engineering has been proposed as an independent science in the field of construction and architecture.
Who is a façade engineer?
Façade engineering is a job in every sense of the word that is completely related to the field of construction and production, and façade engineers should have this background in the field of industry and beauty more than other engineers. Because what is seen of the building in the first place is the façade of the building, so in terms of aesthetics architectural engineers can almost be equal or even have something more than them.
What is the importance of having a façade engineer in the design and construction team?
From the first day, someone as a façade engineer should be in the design team, because otherwise, we will face big problems while working. The façade of the building itself represents the symbol of the form, style, and brand of the building. But in addition, in order to achieve the vision desired by the architect, the façade engineer must include in the design that he presents, many other factors such as the ability to build, maintain and repair, life cycle and longevity, stability and safety Consider.
Without a façade engineer, the amount of retreat of the building structure and the progress of the façade out of the building cannot be calculated. Numbers are always given experimentally, and buildings that are on the side of the street and may exceed the municipal floor and ceiling may be fined or even demolished. These issues are one of the benefits of having a façade engineer on the architectural team.
What should façade engineers manage and plan?
1. Weather tightness: The first thing that the façade engineer deals with is the climate, because at the forefront are issues related to the weather and the comfort of the building, the shell of the building. The building is actually what is inside the shell.
2. Structural behavior: It has a structural structure that has its own special behaviors and can be studied with the knowledge of civil engineering, but it also has its own special behaviors that are in the same field of knowledge, with special attention to the façade structure.
3. Interaction with the primary structure: We must remember that the façade is not a static structure. It is an additional structure and must transfer its load and its own force to the main structure in the shortest possible distance. If the main structure is stable and static, the façade is static in nature. (The building is not going to be demolished and the façade of the building will not remain in place.)
someone as a façade engineer should be in the design team
4. Thermal gains and losses through the façade: The shell is not only a waste, but can also be a receiver.
5. Occupant comfort and energy efficiency: If the temperature range is a few degrees higher or lower, it can greatly reduce or increase energy consumption, which in general can hit the country’s economy a lot or help a lot.
6. Ventilation: It may be said that ventilation is the responsibility of facility engineers; But ventilation is really one of the duties of a façade engineer because it can be done from the wall of the building, to find a solution for it, and to provide the possibility that we can do ventilation from somewhere, and it is very important.