Dubai Frame Case Study
PHOTOVOLTAIC FAÇADE
The Dubai Frame stands as a striking, rectangular picture frame-shaped structure towering 150 meters (492 ft) above Dubai’s Zabeel Park, with a horizontal span of 105 meters (344 ft). Since its opening in 2018, it has drawn in over a million visitors worldwide, offering breathtaking vistas of the city’s rich history and vibrant present. Today, this iconic skyscraper ranks among the world’s most sought-after tourist destinations. This structure was installed with gold-colored PV glass for the rainscreen cladding system.
This building has 1,200 square meters of amorphous silicon photovoltaic glass panels on the facade. This cladding comprises approximately 2,500 modules, each measuring 485 x 985 mm. These laminated glass modules, with three layers, were crafted in yellow and gold hues, featuring a transparency grade of 20% (L vision). With a peak installed power capacity of 38 kWp, the building harnesses a significant portion of the energy needed for its daily operations.
The versatile glass not only plays a key role in establishing a sustainable building powered predominantly by solar energy but also enhances the building’s aesthetic appeal through its vibrant colors.
Additionally, it filters ultraviolet and infrared radiation, aiding in the mitigation of the greenhouse effect, particularly crucial in hot weather conditions. Moreover, it enhances both thermal and sound insulation, leading to substantial energy savings in heating and air conditioning systems.
This building introduces an innovative line of colored semi-transparent photovoltaic glass, featuring a diverse spectrum of shades ranging from light to dark hues, all while retaining the same advantages as
Here are the revised details
- Total Area: 1,200 square meters
- Electricity Generated in 35 years: 1,143,723 kWh
- Total Lighting Points Operating 4 Hours per Day in 35 years: 2,244 lighting points
- CO2 Emissions Avoided in 35 years: 766 tons of CO2
- Barrels of Oil Saved in 35 years: 673 barrels per square meter
Fernando Donis, Dubai Frame architect
“The choice of using photovoltaic glass, which produces clean energy from the sun, is witness to a change of attitude in the government and to Dubai’s approach to sustainability.”
Abdullah Raffia, Dubai government engineering and planning
“The Dubai Frame features a sustainable structure, simple to build and maintain, and with incomparable aesthetic value. Dubai is a city full of emblematic buildings, so instead of adding one more, we set ourselves the task of framing them”.
