scholarly journals A conceptual model for how to design for building envelope characteristics. Impact of thermal comfort intervals and thermal mass on commercial buildings in U.S. climates

2020 ◽  
pp. 101994
Author(s):  
Carl-Eric Hagentoft ◽  
Simon Pallin
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Commercial Buildings ◽  
Thermal Mass

scholarly journals Glass Curtain Wall Technology and Sustainability in Commercial Buildings in Auckland, New Zealand

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-65
Author(s):  
Yi Wu ◽  
Claire Flemmer
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Commercial Buildings ◽  
Continuous Heating ◽  
Curtain Wall ◽  
Glass Curtain Wall

Glass curtain wall provides an attractive building envelope, but it is generally regarded as unsustainable because of the high energy needed to maintain thermal comfort. This research explores the advances in the technology of glass cladding and the complex issues associated with judging its sustainability. It assesses the technology and sustainability of glass curtain wall on a sample of thirty commercial buildings in Auckland, New Zealand. Field observations of the glass-clad buildings, coupled with surveys of the building occupants and of glass cladding professionals are used to investigate the cladding characteristics, operational performance, sustainability aspects and future trends. The majority of the sample buildings are low-rise office buildings. The occupants like the aesthetics and indoor environment quality of their glass-clad buildings. However, continuous heating, ventilation and air conditioning are needed in order to maintain thermal comfort within the buildings and this has high energy consumption. The increasing use of unitized systems with double glazing instead of stick-built systems with single glazing improves the sustainability of the cladding through less material wastage and better energy efficiency. Inclusion of photovoltaic modules in the curtain wall also improves energy efficiency but it is currently too expensive for use in New Zealand. Environmental sustainability is also improved when factors such as climate, the orientation of glazed façades, solar control, ventilation and the interior building layout are considered. Any assessment of glass curtain wall sustainability needs to consider the economic and social aspects as well as the environmental aspects such as energy use

Smart and Cool Home in Malaysia

2011 ◽  
Vol 224 ◽  
pp. 115-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismail Muhammad Azzam ◽  
Abdul Rashid Fahanim
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Heat Sink ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Tropical Climate ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Thermal Mass ◽  
Innovative Strategies

Achieving thermal comfort in the tropical climate of Malaysia is always a great challenge for any house designer or builder. Although some practical solutions have been developed over centuries through the slow but constant evolution of indigenous houses such the Malay house, the longhouses in Borneo and the Chinese townhouses in Melaka, their integration into contemporary designs have been hampered by various modern constraints. For instance, building the Malay house in urban areas is deemed unsuitable due to the need for wide land lots and their perceptively fragile building materials that do not allay any security worries. The lack of skilled carpenters for building such a house is also a worsening problem. Hence, new and innovative strategies to achieve thermal comfort for contemporary houses are greatly needed to serve the needs and expectations of an urbanized society. One method that has been studied and proved successful is the Smart and Cool Home system which was first used at a private bungalow in Semenyih, Malaysia. The overarching principle of this system is to reverse the role of the building envelope from being a thermal mass into a heat sink which effectively reduces heat gains and allow the occupants inside to easily adapt to a milder indoor environment. This paper describes this house in detail and provides some understanding of the principles involved.

scholarly journals Building Retrofit and Energy Conservation/Efficiency Review: A Techno-Environ-Economic Assessment of Heat Pump System Retrofit in Housing Stock

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 983
Author(s):  
Mustapha Mukhtar ◽  
Bismark Ameyaw ◽  
Nasser Yimen ◽  
Quixin Zhang ◽  
Olusola Bamisile ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conservation ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Heat Pump ◽  
Cooling System ◽  
Commercial Buildings ◽  
Optimization Techniques ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Environmental Benefits ◽  
Pump System ◽  
Air Conditioners

The world has not been able to achieve minimum greenhouse gas emissions in buildings’ energy consumptions because the energy and emissions optimization techniques have not been fully utilized. Thermal comfort is one of the most important issues for both residential and commercial buildings. Out of the 40% of global energy consumed by buildings, a large fraction is used to maintain their thermal comfort. In this study, a comprehensive review of the recent advancements in building energy conservation and efficiency application is presented based on existing high-quality research papers. Additionally, the retrofit of the heating/cooling and hot water system for an entire community in Cyprus is presented. This study aims to analyze the technical and environmental benefits of replacing existing electric heaters for hot water with heat pump water heating systems and the use of heat pump air conditioners for thermal comfort in place of the existing ordinary air conditioners for space heating and cooling. One administrative building, 86 apartments (including residential and commercial) buildings, and a restaurant building is retrofitted, and the feasibility of the project is determined based on three economic indicators, namely; simple payback period (SPP), internal rate of return (IRR), and net present value (NPV). The electrical energy required by the hot water systems and the heating/cooling system is reduced by 263,564 kWh/yr and 144,825 kWh/yr, respectively. Additionally, the retrofit project will reduce Cyprus’ CO2 emission by 121,592.8 kg yearly. The SPP, IRR, and NPV for the project show that the retrofit is economically feasible.

scholarly journals The Effect of the Thermal Mass of the Building Envelope on Summer Overheating of Dwellings in a Temperate Climate

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4117
Author(s):  
Tadeusz Kuczyński ◽  
Anna Staszczuk ◽  
Piotr Ziembicki ◽  
Anna Paluszak
Keyword(s):  
Building Materials ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
Residential Buildings ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Temperate Climate ◽  
Maximum Temperature ◽  
Thermal Mass ◽  
Occupant Behavior ◽  
Average Maximum ◽  
Night Ventilation

The main objective of this paper is to demonstrate the effectiveness of increasing the thermal capacity of a residential building by using traditional building materials to reduce the risk of its excessive overheating during intense heat waves in a temperate climate. An additional objective is to show that the use of this single passive measure significantly reduces the risk of overheating in daytime rooms, but also, though to a much lesser extent, in bedrooms. Increasing the thermal mass of the room from light to a medium heavy reduced the average maximum daily temperature by 2.2K during the first heat wave and by 2.6K during the other two heat waves. The use of very heavy construction further reduced the average maximum temperature for the heat waves analyzed by 1.4K, 1.2K and 1.7K, respectively, giving a total possible reduction in maximum daily temperatures in the range of 3.6 °C, 3.8 °C and 4.3 °C. A discussion of the influence of occupant behavior on the use of night ventilation and external blinds was carried out, finding a significant effect on the effectiveness of the use of both methods. The results of the study suggest that in temperate European countries, preserving residential construction methods with heavy envelopes and partitions could significantly reduce the risk of overheating in residential buildings over the next few decades, without the need for night ventilation or external blinds, whose effectiveness is highly dependent on individual occupant behavior.

scholarly journals Thermal comfort in winter incorporating solar radiation effects at high altitudes and performance of improved passive solar design—Case of Lhasa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingjiang Huang ◽  
Jian Kang
Keyword(s):  
Solar Radiation ◽  
Thermal Comfort ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Solar Irradiance ◽  
Indoor Environment ◽  
Thermal Mass ◽  
High Altitudes ◽  
Energy Saving Potential ◽  
Environment Control ◽  
Passive Solar

AbstractThe solar incidence on an indoor environment and its occupants has significant impacts on indoor thermal comfort. It can bring favorable passive solar heating and can result in undesired overheating (even in winter). This problem becomes more critical for high altitudes with high intensity of solar irradiance, while received limited attention. In this study, we explored the specific overheating and rising thermal discomfort in winter in Lhasa as a typical location of a cold climate at high altitudes. First, we evaluated the thermal comfort incorporating solar radiation effect in winter by field measurements. Subsequently, we investigated local occupant adaptive responses (considering the impact of direct solar irradiance). This was followed by a simulation study of assessment of annual based thermal comfort and the effect on energy-saving potential by current solar adjustment. Finally, we discussed winter shading design for high altitudes for both solar shading and passive solar use at high altitudes, and evaluated thermal mass shading with solar louvers in terms of indoor environment control. The results reveal that considerable indoor overheating occurs during the whole winter season instead of summer in Lhasa, with over two-thirds of daytime beyond the comfort range. Further, various adaptive behaviors are adopted by occupants in response to overheating due to the solar radiation. Moreover, it is found that the energy-saving potential might be overestimated by 1.9 times with current window to wall ratio requirements in local design standards and building codes due to the thermal adaption by drawing curtains. The developed thermal mass shading is efficient in achieving an improved indoor thermal environment by reducing overheating time to an average of 62.2% during the winter and a corresponding increase of comfort time.

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