From the following daylighting analysis, it is possible to see the impact of the various folded or unfolded panels on the west facing curtain glass wall. Shadows are present in the corner of the building, where panels are unfolded, but not in the center, where they are in the closed configuration.
It is necessary to assign materials to the imported dwg files. These materials can, however, be specified according to the properties of the 3D printed materials.
One can define spaces within a Revit model and analyze their energy performance independently, based on the facade elements in those spaces.
In order to maximize the impact of the printed components on building energy performance, the wall holding the adaptive mesh, along with the interior walls, are set as a curtain facade.
In additional to solar analysis, lighting analysis can provide an indication of how, given a position of the sun relative to the printed facade components, daylighting metrics change.
3D printed objects increasingly have embedded electrically conductive elements, which could also be used to tune opacity.
In many ways, such adaptive panel facades that dynamically fold can be considered as soft robotics applied at the architectural scale.