SAF - Solar Activated Facade
SAF is an ideal wall construction for very energy efficient buildings also maximising solar energy use. Conventional facades attempt to de-couple the building interior from the exterior. The SAF facade offers another solution: the creation of a sun-warmed buffer. This buffer effect begins at sunrise and holds well past sunset. In this manner building heat losses are dramatically reduced. The annual energy balance of a highly insulated wall can be matched with only half the wall thickness.
What is SAF?
The solar facade SAF was invented and patented by a Swiss architect in 1998. The core of the concept is a solid wood absorber with slanted, horizontal slits. A back-vented glass curtain wall that protects the wood from the elements and helps preserve the thermal buffering effect. Behind the absorber is an insulated, conventional wooden or masonry structural wall. The SAF wall is an exciting architectural element giving a building a special, individual identity.
How does SAF function?
Solar radiation from the low winter sun is transmitted through the glass curtain wall and absorbed in the louver-structured wooden absorber. Slowly the wood is warmed during the daylight hours. After sunset, during the next four to twelve hours the wood slowly cools down. During this time it provides a thermal buffer against the cold exterior temperatures. Building heat losses are diminished accordingly. In summer the sun is higher in the sky so sunrays strike the wooden absorber at a steeper angle. The slope of the slits into the solid wood create a self-shadowing effect. Consequently, the absorber does not heat up to the same extent as in winter.
SAF has been successfully established in Europe for over 15 years...
... is now coming to North America!
--> owns the exclusive rights to market and distribute this patented facade system in the U.S.