New Photosensitive Smart Skin Could Cut Buildings’ Energy Use

University of California engineer Luke Lee and architect Maria-Paz Gutierrez are developing an advanced "skin" for buildings that would regulate temperature and humidity through the physical properties of the materials used, dramatically reducing the need for electricity. Their project, called Self-Activated Building Envelope Regulation, or SABER, would regulate how much light and temperature enter and the building and how much humidity escapes by way of a membrane made of alternating rows of cells activated by light from the outside or humidity from the inside. Says Gutierrez, “the material has become the system....<br><br><a href='https://inhabitat.com/new-photosensitive-smart-skin-could-cut-buildings-energy-use/'>READ ARTICLE</a>

University of California engineer Luke Lee and architect Maria-Paz Gutierrez are developing an advanced "skin" for buildings that would regulate temperature and humidity through the physical properties of the materials used, dramatically reducing the need for electricity. Their project, called Self-Activated Building Envelope Regulation, or SABER, would regulate how much light and temperature enter and the building and how much humidity escapes by way of a membrane made of alternating rows of cells activated by light from the outside or humidity from the inside. Says Gutierrez, “the material has become the system....<br><br><a href='https://inhabitat.com/new-photosensitive-smart-skin-could-cut-buildings-energy-use/'>READ ARTICLE</a>

LEED building, Bellevue, Washington