Advanced Building Skins Conference & Expo

Attendees, exhibitors & solutions

Who this event is for

New this edition

• 1

  Recent Bern programmes have paired research-led sessions on responsive and adaptive building skins with practice-facing tracks on scaling up sustainable renovations, and both themes carry into 2026. The new strand for the 2026 edition covers new developments in glass and shading systems, treating glazing specification, solar control coatings and movable shading as standard project deliverables rather than research showcases. New features at Advanced Building Skins usually appear first as conference case studies and then as exhibitor product launches on the Expo floor, where component makers, system houses and facade software vendors meet architects, facade engineers and developers. Confirm the final 2026 line-up, session titles and timings on the organiser schedule page before you plan your diary.

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Glossary

1

Advanced Building Skins (ABS)

The annual Bern conference and expo on building envelope design, facade materials, daylighting and energy performance, organised by Advanced Building Skins GmbH and hosted at the Kursaal Bern on 3-4 November 2026.

2

Building skin

The outer envelope of a building, including facade, glazing, shading and roofing systems that separate the interior climate from the exterior. At ABS the term covers both the visual language and the performance brief of the envelope.

3

Building envelope

The complete boundary between conditioned interior space and the outside climate, taking in walls, windows, doors, roof and below-grade construction. ABS sessions treat the envelope as the decisive lever for operational energy demand and occupant comfort.

4

Adaptive facade

An envelope system that changes its behaviour in response to sun, temperature, wind or occupancy to regulate daylight, solar gain and energy use. Typically combines sensors, actuators and control logic, and is a recurring theme in ABS adaptive and responsive skin sessions.

5

Responsive building skin

A facade whose geometry, opacity, colour or ventilation path reacts over time, whether through motorised shading, switchable glazing or shape-changing elements. Presented at ABS through research prototypes and built case studies.

6

Curtain wall

A non-load-bearing facade assembly, usually aluminium-framed with glass or metal panels, hung from the building structure. Curtain wall engineering, tolerances and interface detailing appear throughout the ABS facade-engineering content.

7

Unitised facade

A curtain wall approach where complete panels are prefabricated off site, glazed and sealed in the factory, then craned into place floor by floor. Chosen for fast, weather-independent installation on tall buildings, and a common supplier category on the ABS Expo floor.

8

Double-skin facade

Two glazed layers separated by a ventilated cavity that buffers solar gain, improves acoustics and can drive natural ventilation. A classic research topic in the ABS conference programme.

9

BIPV (building-integrated photovoltaics)

Solar modules designed as a building product, forming or replacing roof, facade or shading elements rather than being bolted on afterwards. Relevant to ABS delegates weighing on-site generation against facade cost.

10

U-value

Thermal transmittance, the rate of heat flow through one square metre of construction per kelvin of temperature difference. A core compliance metric for envelope and glazing specification under Swiss and EU building codes.

11

g-value (solar factor)

The share of incident solar radiation admitted through glazing, combining direct transmission and secondary inward heat. Used with visible light transmittance to balance daylight against cooling load in facade specification.

12

Thermal bridge

A localised path of higher heat flow where geometry or material change interrupts insulation, producing condensation risk and energy loss at facade junctions, brackets and slab edges.

13

Deep renovation / retrofit

A whole-building upgrade that substantially cuts energy use, usually combining envelope replacement with services renewal and sometimes additional storeys. Matches the ABS track on scaling up sustainable renovations.

14

Minergie

A Swiss building label setting limits on heating demand and envelope performance before renewable energy is counted. Frequently referenced in Swiss and Alpine projects discussed at the Bern edition.

15

LCA / embodied carbon

Life cycle assessment accounting for greenhouse gas emissions across material extraction, manufacture, construction, use and end of life. Increasingly requested alongside operational energy figures when facade systems are compared.

16

Rainscreen (ventilated facade)

An outer cladding skin fixed over a drained and ventilated cavity, protecting the weather barrier while letting moisture escape. Common with timber, fibre cement and metal facade systems.

17

Facade mock-up

A full-scale sample of a facade used for air, water, structural and thermal performance testing and for visual sign-off before serial production, an interface point between architects, engineers and fabricators.

18

Glass and shading systems

The combination of glazing build-up, coatings, solar control and movable shading that determines daylight, glare and cooling performance. A dedicated 2026 ABS programme strand in Bern.