Schmidlin's unitised 'Active Facade' and 'Interactive Facade' are new terminologies evolved over the last couple of years in the curtain wall industry.

Explaining the technique, Schmidlin general manager Roger Schaerer says it consists of a unique new glass configuration, where a second movable single windowpane is placed within the same thermally broken aluminium frame behind the outer double-glazed window pane.

A solar-coated and electrically operated venetian blind, usually connected to the BMU, is mounted in the cavity between the facade and the interior glazing. The void is then ventilated drawing the exhaust air at a moderate speed from the building ventilation system through the cavity.

"The much enhanced solar factor becomes comparable to that of external shading devices (SF, 0.14) and can be regulated with the air volume flow rate extracted through the cavity," said a spokesman.

"Better shading and thus a lower shading coefficient is provided with increasing volumes of ventilated air. "U-values also depend on the volume of ventilation air and vary between 1.2 and 1.5 W/sqm K for clear double-glazed windows. 'High-efficiency insulation in outer glazing permits, however, U-values less than 0.4 W/sqm K, thus providing considerable improvement to the office comfort level of employees in the immediate vicinity of the building facade.'

Expanding on the theme, the spokesman said such compact and relatively simple construction makes additional space cooling equipment superfluous and provides comfortable temperature conditions from internal air and surrounding surfaces and facade.

"A Schmidlin interactive facade is similar to a naturally ventilated facade but the rate of ventilation is controlled via the use of a small energy-efficient fan powered by solar energy or conventional means," he said. "This system is 'stand alone' and independent of interfacing with the main building mechanical system. "Due to the compact nature of the system, the internal glass is fully operable allowing both easy accesses for cleaning and maintenance, as well as the possibility of natural ventilation if so desired."

According to the company, the world's discerning architects are increasingly specifying unitised curtain walls as they have realised that such systems provide a much higher quality and performance with regard to air/water infiltration.

It adds that further advantages are the proper absorption of "elastic shortening of high-rise buildings and other expansion/contraction joints, a factor often overlooked".

The company notes that unitised facades are not available as common CW systems out of a catalogue, but that each one is a bespoke, unique and customised design, meeting exact individual requirements of the architects for different type of buildings. The installation is done in a way similar to that of pre-cast concrete. The CW units are fully assembled in the fabrication plant and then transported to site, were they are hooked on to pre-installed cast steel brackets in the correct position. "The actual installation time is a fraction compared to the on-site CW assembly usually applied in this part of the world," notes Schmidlin, which has 65 years of experience in high-quality curtain wall custom-designed fabrication and installation all over the world.

The company was founded in 1936 as carpentry and joinery shop by Leon Schmidlin. Thanks to the high standard of craftsmanship and quality, the demand for Schmidlin products increased and the company developed into a leading internationally recognised supplier for windows and curtain wall system products.

The Schmidlin Group is one of Europe's largest manufacturers of high-quality curtain wall systems. With its headquarters in Aesch, Switzerland, Schmidlin has wholly owned subsidiaries in Germany, the UK, France, Italy, the UAE, South Korea and India.

The group, whose turnover is about Dh500 million ($133 million), operates as a company with an independent legal status. Recent projects it has worked on include GLA and Swiss-re, both in London; ADIA, Abu Dhabi, and Burj Al Arab, Dubai.