Who we are
EFN is an aggregating European network of experts in the field of building envelope design, engineering and construction aiming at sharing dissemination activities, education, and research.
Our goals
EFN seeks to advance and promote façade design and engineering at a European level and beyond. This is achieved through inclusive cooperation between its members and alumni, resulting in skills and knowledge transfer and sharing.
Knowledge transfer and awareness raising
We aim at making EFN one of the top online platforms for the spreading and promotion of knowledge about façade design and engineering, targeting students, researchers, manufacturers, designers, facade consultants, and other stakeholders from the facade field.
EFN Team
Dr. Stefano Avesani
Senior Researcher at Institute for Renewable Energy, Eurac Research.
"I am working to support the development of sustainable and user-centered façade. Very fascinated by multifunctional envelopes indeed!"
Dr. Miren Juaristi Gutierrez
Post-Doc Research at Institute for Renewable Energy, Eurac Research.
"My research focuses on innovative opaque facades to minimize their environmental impact. I am exploring if Adaptive Facades and prefabrication contributes to achieving this objective combined with an increased use of bio-based materials."
Professor Ing. Enrico Sergio Mazzucchelli
Associate Professor at Department of Architecture, Built environment and Construction engineering at Politecnico di Milano.
"My research activities are focused on innovative building façade systems and building services integration. Our new website will share new research results and new proven practice in the field of façade design and engineering research and education."
Professor Dr Ing. Ulrich Knaack
Head of Chair of Façade Structures at Institute of Structural Mechanics and Design, TU Darmstadt and Professor of Design of Construction at Department of Architectural Engineering + Technology, TU Delft.
"Engineering glass and facades is an interesting challenge: technology, energy and function come together, defining the performance of the building. Quite central!"
Dr Ing. Thaleia Konstantinou
Assistant Professor at the Chair of “Building Product Innovation”, Department of Architectural Engineering and Technology of Faculty of Architecture, TU Delf.
"As facades are reaching their end of life, extending the life-cycle and bring them up to current standards is a huge task for the building industry. At the same time, it is also an opportunity towards a resource-efficient, carbon-neutral and healthy built environment."
Professor Dr Ing. Uta Pottgiesser
Chair of Heritage and Technology, at Department of Architectural Engineering + Technology, TU Delft and Full Professor of building construction and materials, TH OWL.
Professor Daniel Artzmann
Professor of Facade Construction at TH OWL.
"Well-designed building envelopes strongly influence the well-being inside buildings and contribute to a healthy outdoor environment. Furthermore, they are an important factor to meet the sustainability goals of today and future. In order to meet these requirements, sustainable holistic planning involving all disciplines is essential."
Nebojsa Jakica
Assistant Professor in Facade Design and Engineering, Centre for Civil and Architectural Engineering, SDU.
"Exploring the interdisciplinary domain between Industry 5.0 technologies and façades with a human-centric approach to invent the future of autonomous facades."
Professor Daniel Aelenei
Professor of Building Physics and Building Technical Services at the Department of Civil Engineering and senior researcher at Centre of Technology and Systems of the “Universidade Nova” of Lisbon.
"There is growing demand for innovative and optimized building facades driven by the actual social, economic and environmental challenges. Through teaching, research, and innovation we aim to create and disseminate knowledge in the façade engineering and design."
Professor José Miguel Rico Martínez
Lecturer at Architecture Department, University of the Basque Country, UPV/EHU.
"Building design and construction is a field in which imagination and science dance together at the lively pace of each time. From architecture or engineering, manufacturing, teaching, small or large scale, let's listen together to create a coherent, exciting and sustainable melody."
Julen Astudillo Larraz
Senior Researcher at Building Technologies Division, Tecnalia.
"We work on all related aspects of the envelope, from new ways of designing it to the automation of its installation. We believe that active façades are the future!"
Professor Dr Andreas Luible
Deputy Head of Institute of Civil Engineering, Head of Competence Center Building Envelopes and Civil Engineering, Hochschule Luzern.
"The façade is one of the key factors that significantly impact the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of buildings. It is our mission to improve the performance of building envelopes through the use new materials, technologies and methods."
Professor Mikkel K. Kragh
Full Professor and Head of Department, Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering at Aarhus University, Faculty of Technical Sciences, Denmark.
"The civil, structural and environmental engineers of the future will need to master computation and information technology in order to integrate complex technology, while still considering a multitude of design parameters pertaining to architecture, constructability, performance, cost and value."
Susanne Gosztonyi
Lecturer, Head of Research Group Envelope and Solar Energy, Hochschule Luzern.
"As an active regulator of energy and information flows, of aesthetic and functional needs, a façade is a system of its own that is becoming increasingly complex. Uncovering and optimising these interactions with the help of new methods is an exciting task."
Professor A. Nil Türkeri
Head of Department of Architecture at ITU and full Professor at the Working Group of Building and Construction Technologies in Architecture.
"Facade has provided deepening of knowledge, inspiring innovation through discovery and successful progression of the construction industry."
David Metcalf
Director of CWCT and co-programme leader for the MSc in Façade Engineering at the University of the West of England.
Dr. Alejandro I. P. Hoces
Senior researcher at the Chair Design of Construction and Research Coordinator of the Architectural Façades & Products Research Group in the Department of Architectural Engineering and Technology, TU Delft.
"As façade designers, it is our responsibility to unlock the full potential of our building envelopes in generating healthier and more resilient cities, using every available surface to tackle the serious current urban environmental issues."