Paper-shade: Development of sustainable modular building shading systems utilizing recycled paper towards serial production

The paper will present an ongoing research for the design and manufacturability of modular building shading systems utilizing recycled paper as the primary material ingredient. The Paper-Shade project proposes a radically new solution: surplus recycled paper into a building construction product. The research aims to develop prototypes of serially manufactured modules that are sustainable in their materiality, manufacturing process, performances, life span cycle, as well as eventual re-cycling. The methodology utilized throughout the research is primarily a hands-on one. The research consortium consists of academic, industry and professional practice partners. The prototypes therefore develop through cyclical processes involving case-study assessments (theoretical and physical), cataloguing of data and outlining directives, defining desired-for specifications, testing through simulation, physical testing and laboratory results. Serial production possibilities as well as product affordability and maximized building energy performance are also considered. The Paper-Shade project may be considered as a modern-day version of vernacular building systems such as adobe bricks. It is also a new take on the modernist era s concrete shading modules that were extensively and successfully used in the past in hot climatic zones but unfortunately forgotten during the recent decades. The project aims to revive intelligent shading systems by prototyping sustainably produced and performing shading modules towards an improved built environment.