Journal of Facade Design and Engineering 3 (2015) 103 DOI 10.3233/FDE-150041 IOS Press 103 Editorial Dear Scientists, dear Engineers and Designers, The papers in this issue of JFDE discuss the potential of adaptive building envelopes, component development as well as implementation strategies. The applied practice paper demonstrates deci- sion strategies behind the adaptive sun shading system of the Al-Bahr Towers. Additivity in building envelopes is not only a strategy to fulfil the growing demands for energy efficient buildings and com- fort but has great architectural implications as well. In general it asks for more complex components as well as control strategies. But complexity also means costs and risks, and we need to discuss the means and effects. This discussion in particular is very interesting because here science and prac- tice meet. The Journal of Facade Design and Engineering JFDE will actively follow and stimulate by providing high quality contributions. Four of the paper contributions have their origins in the Conference ‘Facades 2014’, held in November 2014 in Lucerne. The contributions have been carefully selected and have been subjected to the regular double blind review process of the journal. We want to thank Prof. Dr. Andres Luible for the help in making this issue happen. We are proud that JFDE is the scientific partner for a number of conferences such as ‘The Future Envelope’ Conference on Building Envelopes held yearly in Delft (NL) or Bath (UK), the ICAE Interna- tional Congress on Architectural Envelopes in San Sebastian (ES) and the above mentioned conference ‘Facades’ in Lucerne (CH) and Detmold (D). Our latest partner is the ICBEST 2017 - International Conference on Building Envelope Systems and Technologies in Istanbul. The growing number of partners indicates the relevance of JFDE for our growing discipline and will assure the continuity of the journal. Facade Design and Engineering is a peer reviewed, open access journal, funded by The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research NWO (www.nwo.nl). We see ‘open access’ as the future publishing model. But it certainly requires new financial models which we will have to explore in the coming years. The editors in chief, Ulrich Knaack Tillmann Klein ISSN 2214-302X/15/$35.00 © 2015 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved This article is published online with Open Access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License.