A systematic review of Prefabricated Enclosure Wall Panel Systems: Focus on technology driven for performance requirements

Building envelopes are perhaps the most influencing players on assuring indoor comfort conditions, in alliance with their impact on the sustainability and energy-efficiency of the building during operation. However, given the multitude of commercial solutions available on the market and the use of different criteria and inconsistent semantics among the existing categorization/classification systems of construction objects, there is still a need for uniformisation of the many regarding the main Prefabricated Enclosure Wall Panel Systems (PEWPS) for building applications. In such context, this paper firstly explores the distinct categories of off-site Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), and how can they be classified. Secondly, focus will be given to panelised systems, where the classification of PEWPS is thoroughly investigated. Lastly, a summarised literature review of selected innovative research trends in advanced building envelopes is presented, with positive consequences on the comfort, energy and environmental performance of buildings. The purpose of this research is to provide a comprehensive framework to understand which singularities and challenges are associated with PEWPS; This set of tools should be accessible to designers (and construction stakeholders in general) to realise how each building solution is supposed to work on the road to fulfilling user requirements.