Romazo mini symposium

“I am pleased and proud that this is our third symposium ofits kind for our students,” boasts Dr. -Ing. Marcel Bilow who organized the event. Bilow adds, “In this symposium, partnered with Romazo, the students are exposed to the expertsin the field of solar shading and can use this backgroundknowledge in their projects.”

The day long symposium featured lectures covering all aspects of solar shading. Solar shading includes products as simple as a window shade or awning, to more advanced smart products. Sector Group Manager Martin Straver opened the symposium with an introduction to solar shading. “With the EU climate and energy goals of 20-20-20, solar shading can be part of an essential solution to lowering energy costs,” explained Straver. He goes on to report that buildings are the biggest energy users in the EU at 41% and that the EuropeanSolar-Shading Organization wants to be part of the solution in lowering these costs.

Italian students Gabriele Deles and Niki Nicolaou attended the symposium as students in the course. They were both impressed by the amount of sun energy that was falling on their respective countries. “I was shocked by the real amount of energy consumption of buildings,” admitted Deles. Nicolaou described solar shading as “a simple solution with littleeffort.” The event continued with more lectures covering the management of solar energy, internal and external shading, and a presentation from the ES-OS. During breaks, students were able to browse tables displaying solar shading fabrics and to discuss with the experts how they can be used.

The final presentation was given by Bilow, where he introduced the Bucky Lab semester project. The Bucky Lab is a unique course in Architecture, where thestudents are encouraged to build a prototype of anything they can imagine. The course begins with ideas and plans and in the last month the actual Bucky Lab is built. The lab isa mobile workshop, where all the tools needed are kept in boxes until it is time to work, when they are set up anywhere the faculty finds space, be it a tent or classroom.