Although solar thermal systems are technologically mature and cost effective, they have not yet been sufficiently used in building design, where they should be playing a greater role in the reduction of fossil-fuel consumption. One main hindrance to adoption is the generally low architectural design quality of the building integration of these thermal systems. As confirmed by the application of photovoltaic elements in buildings, improving the architectural quality of building integrated systems leads to the adoption of a given solar technology even more than price reduction or technical advances. And in the case of solar thermal collectors, which for technical reasons have to be mounted very close to the point of consumption – i.e., on the building itself – the architectural integration issue becomes determining.

Starting from a definition of architectural integration quality and related criteria, this book will help both architects and manufacturers improve their design work. Architects will find recommendations to optimize the integration quality, thus making the best out of the generally limited flexibility and low formal quality of presently available collectors; and examples of inspiring integration and innovative products are presented. For manufacturers, the book provides a set of guidelines for the development of new multifunctional and flexible products conceived from the outset for building integration, thus improving the market offer.

Preface - Table of contents - Introduction - Architectural integration quality - Architectural integration requirements - “Integrability” of existing products - Development methodology for novel solar thermal systems - Developed systems - Postface

The novel architectural form of this building, conceived of by the architects of SAANA (winners of the Pritzker Prize in 2010), compelled the building engineers to come up with unprecedented structural, technical and logistical solutions.

Wood, as a material, offers several unique advantages: widespread availability, natural renewability, favorable ecological assessment, and flexibility of implementation. Moreover, the polymeric components of wood, together with its porous structure, confer upon it a faculty for transformation exceeding that of other materials.

The universe, in all its richness, diversity and complexity, is populated by a myriad of intriguing celestial objects. Among the most exotic of them are gravitationally lensed quasars. A quasar is an extremely bright nucleus of a galaxy, and when such an object is gravitationally lensed, multiple images of the quasar are produced – this phenomenon of cosmic mirage can provide invaluable insights on burning questions, such as the nature of dark matter and dark energy.

This companion book to the classic Thermodynamics and Energy Systems Analysis: From Energy to Exergy, by Lucien Borel and Daniel Favrat, provides a series of exercises (many solved, some with just numerical answers) to be used in conjunction with the textbook.