Piezo-Klett - Development of piezoelectric hook-and-loop application for the energy supply of active sensor technology in the building industry

Considering the high CO2 emissions in the construction industry and the ongoing climate change, it is important to increase the resilience of buildings and cities by enhancing their adaptability, durability, energy and resource efficiency. In this context, the “Austrian Climate and Energy Strategy” and the European "Green Deal" emphasise the circular economy and the potentials of digitalisation.4 A resilient building primarily requires appropriate training of the constructive interfaces from primary structure (shell) to secondary structure (extension) and the management of tertiary structures (technology). The requirements are a separable combination of short-lived and long-lived components, ease of maintenance, accessibility and standardisation.5 In order to be able to guarantee the given requirements, a rethinking in the design and planning of the interfaces is necessary. As the exploratory study "Klett-TGA" (FFG project no.: 861664), which preceded this project, shows, the Velcro-connection meets these requirements better than conventional methods. In addition, Velcro offers simple, clean and fast assembly processes. It creates damage-free and detachable connections and a uniform connection system that can be applied to any component from any supplier. Resilience in construction also requires intelligent buildings. Corresponding sensor technology due to especially active transponders that offer possibilities of predictive modelling and predictive maintenance through AI-supported analysis and processing of data. Valuable prognoses and findings are provided, which further increase resilience and facilitate maintenance. However, the installation of the preferred sensors is complex due to the cabling or the service life is limited by the fixed battery.6 To solve these problems, the present project proposes to consider the building/building parts as energy generators and to operate by using the Velcro connection in combination with the piezoelectric effect to do “energy harvesting”. Based on the high weight loads, strains, vibrations, changes in temperature or due to air currents occurring in buildings (e.g. wind loads in facades, deformations; fluctuations in high-rise buildings, load bundling at nodes; membrane structures), energy can be generated independently. From the point of view of planning and construction (engineering performance), building parts would be designed and optimized for the piezo effect. The project goal is to investigate the hook-and-loop connection (velcro) as a joining system, as well as an energy generator, based on the exploratory study. As well as the idea to supply self-sufficient active sensor technology, to accruing data e.g. loads with regard to predictive modeling and their transmission cycles. Compared to the state of the art, the use of a fastener for energy generation, especially at the details of individual joining and intersection points, offers a very high level of innovation with a significant need for research. The desired result is a comprehensive gain of knowledge, concepts for possible applications of the proposed system and the verification of individual concepts by means of experiments.