MATELAB: A new experimental facility to capture occupant response to smart facades

The Glass & Facade Technology research group has inaugurated a novel test facility called MATELab (Mobile Adaptive Technologies Experimental Lab), developed by PhD student Luna-Navarro and Dr. Mauro Overend in collaboration with Permasteelisa, Arup and the Centre for Digital Built Britain (CDBB).

MATELab is essentially a  free-standing  single-storey open plan office with a floor areas of 35 sq. m, replaceable facade elements and a significant amount of state-of the-art instrumentation for capturing external and internal environmental conditions, energy demand and occupant response.

It represents an intermediate step between traditional lab tests that are precise, but provide unrealistic conditions and the measurements in real-world office that are realistic, but difficult to control.

MATELab is designed to capture occupant response in a controlled, yet realistic environment, by reducing the bias of highly controlled laboratory chambers whilst allowing accurate monitoring of the environmental and contextual variables affecting occupant response.

MATELab also offers a unique test bed for interfaces and methods that include occupants into the control loop of dynamic building components that improve individual occupant comfort and wellbeing.