Patent ID: 8595995

Claim:
A method of assembling the exterior shell of a building, comprising: attaching a plurality of preassembled, unitized curtain wall modules to structural elements of the building so as to bypass floor structure, each of the preassembled, unitized curtain wall modules including a rigid frame with glazing material in the frame, the glazing material carrying at least one energy conversion module, the frame having complementary engaging structures adapted to engage the frame with adjacent frames of other unitized curtain wall modules to form and define the exterior shell of the building; connecting adjacent ones of the plurality of curtain wall modules to form and define the exterior shell of the building, the exterior shell of the building being continuous; and installing an integrated electrical raceway in a first direction on an interior side of the unitized curtain wall modules, such that respective sections of the raceway attach to respective ones of the plurality of curtain wall modules, such that the integrated electrical raceway forms an interior architectural trim piece within the building, the raceway including a metal-based conduit adapted to communicate high voltage cabling and low voltage signal cabling along the first direction, and at least one electrical connector situated on an exterior surface of the conduit and adapted to receive and connect a power output cable from the energy conversion module.