Beyond Cladding:
How the +Energy Facade Turns
Exterior Walls Into Passive Energy Systems
The building envelope has always done one job: keep the outside out. The +Energy Facade asks it to do something more — actively harvesting solar thermal energy to heat and cool the buildings it wraps, while maintaining the architectural quality that design-focused projects demand.
What Is the +Energy Facade ?
The +Energy Facade is a building-integrated passive heating and cooling system developed through a three-way collaboration between Lavada Inc. , Copa Solar , and Cosentino . It transforms the exterior wall of a building into an active thermal energy system — collecting solar heat through the building envelope and redistributing it to serve heating, cooling, and domestic hot water needs.
Unlike conventional solar panels bolted onto a finished building, the +Energy Facade is the cladding . The system integrates Copa Solar's proprietary thermal absorber technology directly behind Dekton ultra-compact surface panels — a material chosen for its exceptional thermal stability, durability, and design versatility. The result is a precisely detailed facade that performs at an architectural level while generating energy at a building system level.
Modular +Energy Facade panel system — Copa Solar thermal absorber integrated with Dekton cladding on the substructure.
Solar Thermal Energy,
Built Into the Wall
The system works by capturing solar radiation through the building's facade. Copa Solar 's thermal absorber — positioned directly behind the Dekton panels — collects this energy and transfers it via a fluid circuit into the building's mechanical system, where it is used for space heating, space cooling, and domestic hot water production.
Solar capture
The Dekton facade panel absorbs incident solar radiation. Copa Solar's thermal absorber layer behind the panel converts this into usable thermal energy with peak output of 1,400 W/m².
Fluid circuit transfer
Heated fluid circulates through an integrated piping network embedded in the facade assembly and is routed to the building's mechanical plant — visible in prototype form in the installation images below.
Heating mode
Thermal energy is distributed to radiant floor or ceiling systems, or used to preheat air in the building's ventilation system — reducing the load on conventional heating equipment.
Cooling mode
In warmer months, the same thermal circuit drives an absorption or adsorption chiller, producing cooling from solar heat rather than grid electricity — a fundamentally different approach to building cooling .
Domestic hot water
Surplus thermal energy is routed to domestic hot water storage, reducing or eliminating the need for conventional water heating across the building.
"The building envelope has always been a barrier. The +Energy Facade turns it into an engine — one that heats, cools, and powers the building it wraps."
— Lavada Inc. × Copa Solar × Cosentino
From Concept to
Built Reality
The images below document the first physical prototype of the +Energy Facade system — a full-scale installation demonstrating the integration of Dekton panels, Copa Solar's thermal absorber network, and the modular subframing that makes field installation practical at scale.
The prototype validates the core assembly logic: panels clip into the subframe independently, the fluid circuit is pre-routed through the structure, and the Dekton surface presents a clean, monolithic facade face with no visible mechanical elements. Lavada's shop drawing and engineering capability ensures every connection, tolerance, and thermal interface is documented and constructable before a single panel goes up.
Built for the Buildings
That Matter Most
The +Energy Facade is designed for building types where energy performance, sustainability credentials, and design quality are all non-negotiable — and where the scale of the envelope makes building-integrated energy systems economically compelling.
Multifamily residential projects benefit from shared thermal plant infrastructure and the ability to meet increasingly stringent energy codes without sacrificing amenity space. Commercial buildings gain a visible, communicable sustainability story alongside measurable reductions in operating costs. Institutional projects — schools, healthcare, civic buildings — benefit from long-term energy cost stability and alignment with ESG and net-zero commitments.
In all three markets, the +Energy Facade delivers something conventional facade systems cannot: a cladding surface that actively contributes to the building's energy budget every day it faces the sun.
Three Partners,
One System
The +Energy Facade is the result of a deliberate three-way partnership, bringing together expertise in building systems integration , solar thermal technology, and ultra-compact surface materials.
Leading facade design, building systems coordination , and project delivery — ensuring the +Energy Facade performs as a complete, installable system from design through construction.
Providing the proprietary solar thermal absorber and PVT technology at the heart of the system — delivering 1,400 W/m² peak power and building-integrated thermal performance.
Supplying Dekton ultra-compact surface panels — engineered for thermal stability, UV resistance, and long-term exterior durability across hundreds of finish options .