Three-dimensional printing, or additive manufacturing, is one of the modern techniques emerging in the construction industry. Three-Dimensional Printed Concrete (3DPC) technology is currently evolving with high demand amongst researchers, and the integration of modular building systems with this technology would provide a sustainable solution to modern construction challenges. This work investigates and develops energy-efficient 3D-printable walls that can be implemented worldwide through energy efficiency and sustainability criteria. Numerical research and experimental investigations, bench tests with software packages, and high-precision modern equipment have been used to investigate the thermal performance of 3DPC envelopes with different types of configurations, arrangements of materials, and types of insulation. The research findings showed that an innovative energy-efficient ventilated 3DPC envelope with a low thermal conductivity coefficient was developed following the climatic zone. The annual costs of heat energy consumed for heating and carbon footprint were determined in the software package Revit Insight to assess the energy efficiency of the 3D-printed building. The thermal properties of the main wall body of the tested 3D-printed walls were calculated with on-site monitoring data. The infrared thermography technique detected heterogeneous and non-uniform temperature distributions on the exterior wall surface of the 3DPC tested envelopes.

The development of energy-efficient technologies at all stages of a building’s life cycle is essential to achieving sustainable development goals. The object of the study is climate-adaptive façade structures with air gaps in the form of a Trombe wall and a double-skin façade. Cases using phase-change materials (PCM) and photovoltaic modules (PV) in climate-adaptive structures are analyzed separately. The research method is aimed to review and analyze the energy-saving potential from integrating the Trombe wall or double-skin façade in buildings. The work systematizes full-scale, physical, and mathematical experiments. Articles from Scopus and Web of Science systems from 2001 to 2022 inclusive were subject to consideration. The article presents a statistical analysis given by the scientific community on the current topic’s dynamics. The study’s significance is characterized by a lack of knowledge on the behavior of the mentioned façade systems in various climate zones and for different buildings types. The results have shown that comprehensive studies on the investigated systems are significant and can serve for further designs and energy efficiency improvements. For the first time, a scientometric analysis of articles on the topic “Climate-adaptive façades” was compiled.

Scientometric analysis using the Scopus database and VosViewer program identified the critical directions of development of this or that field to identify promising technologies and to understand how these achievements affect the practice of design and construction. According to the analytics, the average number of articles per year on the topic of structural fire resistance and flame retardants increased by 18% compared to the previous period, and according to preliminary data, the trend will continue in 2024. Among the most cited papers, studies on composite materials and polymers dominate. Among the most productive researchers in the field of flame retardancy of materials are Hu, Yuan (54 papers), Wang, WeiYong (47 papers), and Jiang, Jian (39 papers). According to Scopus, research papers on this topic have been published in 2175 sources. The leading journal in terms of the number of published papers is Fire Safety with 250 publications, but journals such as Fire and Buildings of MDPI Publishing are strongly increasing the pace. Chinese researchers are actively studying various aspects of fire resistance of materials and have published 40% of all papers. Keyword analysis revealed a lack of papers on calculation of fire resistance of structures with fire protection means, calculation of fire resistance of composite structures, and 3D-printed structures compared to the number of articles on the reliability (strength calculation) of building structures.

Fire protection is required to protect metal structures of oil and gas facilities from fires. Such fire protection should provide high fire resistance limits: 60, 90, 120 and more minutes. Specialists of LLC “RPC PROMIZOL ” developed a multilayer, removable type of fire protection made of superfine basalt fibre and ceramic materials for operation in Arctic conditions. Five experimental studies were carried out in standard and hydrocarbon fire regimes. The fire protection effectiveness of the products for I20 beams without load was obtained: a 50 mm thick coating provided 130 min of a standard fire regime; a 15 mm thick coating provided 60 min. The 15 mm thick coating provided 30 min of a hydrocarbon fire regime and the 50 mm thick coating provided 93 min of a hydrocarbon fire regime. The I40 beam under a load of 19.9 tf showed an R243 for the standard fire regime. The coefficients of effective thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of fire-retardant compositions were determined by solving the inverse heat conduction problem. The problem was solved by modelling using the QuickField 7.0 software package, which implements FEM. Modelling showed that for obtaining the fire resistance limit R120 under the standard fire regime for the sample steel structure from an I40 beam, it is enough to apply fire protection with a thickness of 25 mm instead of 50 mm, which agrees with the experimental data. For the hydrocarbon regime, it is predicted that R120 can be obtained at a thickness of 45 mm instead of 50 mm.

Glass is widely used for the manufacture of the facades and interior glazing of buildings. Glass structures are subject to high fire safety requirements. Two methods are employed in this work: experimental studies of small-sized and large-sized samples and simulations of heating glass structures. The results showed that large-sized samples of monolithic tempered glass, with dimensions of 4250 × 2000 × 8 mm and 2000 × 3000 × 8, that were inserted in a steel frame, if properly installed, provided fire resistance limits of E30/E45 and E60, respectively, for loss of integrity, which proves the influence of the dimensions of the glass panel on the fire resistance of the facade structure. The small-sized samples of monolithic tempered glass with dimensions of 1000 × 700 × 8 mm provided a fire resistance limit of E60 for loss of integrity. A large-sized sample of monolithic tempered glass measuring 4250 × 2000 × 8 mm and inserted into an aluminum frame provided a fire resistance limit of E60, proving the effect of the frame on the fire resistance of the structure. According to the results of several simulations, a conclusion was formed about the possibility of predicting the fire resistance limits of tempered glass based on its thickness and dimensions. During operations, these structures will be able to prevent the spread of fire and combustion products for the required time after the loss of integrity. The results of the study allow for the estimation of the influence of the scale factor on the falling of the glass from the frame in a fire (loss of integrity).