Material efficiency and lightweight construction are increasingly required to meet the architect's desire for maximum transparency, homogeneous views and dematerialized façades. This motivates the development of innovative façade concepts using lightweight, thin glass-plastic composite panels as glazing. The sandwich panels consist of thin glass facings and a stiff and transparent polymer interlayer core. The lightweight polymer significantly reduces the dead weight of the glazing compared to conventional glass and provides high structural composite performance. In addition, the polymeric interlayer core allows for integrated mechanical joints with minimal insert depth that go beyond conventional connection joints.

These properties enable new, unobtrusive methods of fixing in façade applications, accelerate the use of adhesive technology in façade construction due to minimal permanent loads, and pave the way for filigree substructure design. The innovative concept of NEERO-Façade exploits the low dead weight and the integrated mechanical joint design to develop a holistic, lightweight and highly transparent double-skin façade and was developed in joint research between KRD Coatings, Priedemann Fassadenberatung and TU Dresden. This paper describes the design concept and research process of NEERO-Façade, including the development of an integrated façade fixing and the slim substructure design. Furthermore, a case study demonstrates the design possibilities of NEERO-Façade for dematerialization and increase of transparency in façade design.