Integrated thermal-energy analysis of innovative translucent white marble for building envelope application

Marble is a natural and precious material, which has been used in construction field since ancient times. It has always been used as massive construction element, and its peculiar aspect gave the idea of monumentality and solidity. Nowadays new technologies permits to the marble to express new languages: in particular, translucent marble technology overturns the concept of solidity. The main problematic limiting the diffusion of this application is the lack of thermal energy efficiency of the stone element as the only façade component, due to its reduced thickness. On the other hand, this element could bring advantages to the energy performance of the building, if carefully applied. In fact, BiancoCarrara and Statuario marble for instance could be considered as naturally cool materialsfor their intrinsic light color and high thermal emissivity. In this perspective, this paper analyzes the combined energy aspects of thin marble as external envelope skin for a new designed building for arts activities located in New York City. An integrated analysis of the energy performance of the marble skin is performed by mean of an experimental characterization of solar transmittance, absorbance, reflectance and thermal emissivity. These measurements are carried out for two different types of white marble, in order to achieve a comparison assessment. Therefore, the thermal-energy assessment of the building is carried out in a dynamic simulation environment, in order to evaluate the year-round benefits and penalties of translucent marble envelope for indoor thermal comfort and air-conditioning requirement.