Daylighting and Energy Performance Evaluation of an Egg-Crate Device for Hospital Building Retrofitting in a Mediterranean Climate

Hospital buildings present a significant savings potential in order to meet the objectives of H2020. The improvement of healthcare built environments contributes to improving the health of patients. In this respect, passive measurements must be prioritized, especially in relation to the weakest element of the building thermal enclosure: the window opening. Shading devices allow solar radiation and indoor temperature to be controlled, as well as improving visual comfort, mostly in buildings with a Mediterranean climate. This factor is of great importance when considering the increase in outdoor temperatures expected due to climate change. Unlike other studies in which predictive models are implemented, this paper examines a methodology based on the simultaneous monitoring of ambient variables, in real use and operative conditions, for two hospital rooms located in southern Spain. The aim of this research is to provide a comparative assessment of ambient conditions in a standard room with an egg-crate device and in a non-shaded one. The use of an egg-crate device allows a better yearly performance, improving natural illuminance levels, reducing incident solar radiation on the window, and decreasing artificial lighting consumption. However, its efficiency is greatly conditioned by the user patterns in relation to ambient systems, as the blind aperture level and the activation of the lighting system are directly controlled by users.

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The effects of shading devices on office building energy performance in Mediterranean climate regions

Journal of Building Engineering ◽

10.1016/j.jobe.2021.102653 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 44 ◽

pp. 102653

Author(s):

Sena Göknur Koç ◽

Sibel Maçka Kalfa

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Climate ◽

Building Energy ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Office Building ◽

Building Energy Performance ◽

Shading Devices

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Daylighting Performance of Solar Control Films for Hospital Buildings in a Mediterranean Climate

Energies ◽

10.3390/en12030489 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (3) ◽

pp. 489

Author(s):

Carmen Calama-González ◽

Ángel León-Rodríguez ◽

Rafael Suárez

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Climate ◽

Controlled Rolling ◽

Lighting System ◽

Artificial Lighting ◽

Control Film ◽

Solar Control ◽

Hospital Building ◽

Lighting Systems ◽

Cooling Loads ◽

Radiation Cooling

One of the main retrofitting strategies in warm climates is the reduction of the effects of solar radiation. Cooling loads, and in turn, cooling consumption, can be reduced through the implementation of reflective materials such as solar control films. However, these devices may also negatively affect daylight illuminance conditions and the electric consumption of artificial lighting systems. In a hospital building, it is crucial to meet daylighting requirements as well as indoor illuminance levels and visibility from the inside, as these have a significant impact on health outcomes. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the influence on natural illuminance conditions of a solar control film installed on the windows of a public hospital building in a Mediterranean climate. To this end, a hospital room, with and without solar film, was monitored for a whole year. A descriptive statistical analysis was conducted on the use of artificial lighting, illuminance levels and rolling shutter aperture levels, as well as an analysis of natural illuminance and electric consumption of the artificial lighting system. The addition of a solar control film to the external surface of the window, in combination with the user-controlled rolling shutter aperture levels, has reduced the electric consumption of the artificial lighting system by 12.2%. Likewise, the solar control film has increased the percentage of annual hours with natural illuminance levels by 100–300 lux.

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The Role of the Internal Heat Gains for Artificial Lighting on the Energy Performance of Buildings

International Journal of Heat and Technology ◽

10.18280/ijht.390501 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 39 (5) ◽

pp. 1395-1404

Author(s):

Guglielmina Mutani ◽

Edoardo De Nicolò ◽

Laura Blaso ◽

Simonetta Fumagalli ◽

Antonella Tundo

Keyword(s):

Internal Heat ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Light Sources ◽

Retirement Home ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Artificial Lighting ◽

Performance Indexes ◽

Lighting Energy ◽

Lighting Systems ◽

Shading Devices

This paper aims to propose a procedure for calculating the energy performance indexes of buildings considering the seasonality of internal gains due to artificial lighting with a monthly quasi-steady-state energy balance. The proposed methodology evaluates the heat gains due to the integrated natural-artificial lighting system with the Lighting Energy Numerical Indicator (LENI). For the evaluation of buildings’ global energy performance and for some energy services, this contribution cannot be considered constant annually as depend strongly by climate conditions. The effect of daylighting, type of light sources-luminaires, building orientation and shading devices could influence lighting contribution of the internal heat gains. Then, the proposed methodology evaluates the internal heat gains with monthly energy balances. This methodology was applied to the case study of the "Brancaccio" retirement home in Matera (IT) for which the values of the energy performance indexes were compared with the standard normative approach using constant internal heat gains. The results of this work underline the importance of performing a detailed analysis that considers the availability of natural light in the different months of the year, the efficiency of the different lighting systems and their power installed per unit of area as a function of the lighting comfort requirements in the different types of environments.

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DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR THE UTILIZATION OF TILTED FAÇADES TO ENHANCE BUILDING ENERGY PERFORMANCE

Journal of Green Building ◽

10.3992/jgb.7.1.120 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 120-142

Author(s):

Jatuwat Varodompun ◽

Atiwat Asavapitayanont

Keyword(s):

Solar Radiation ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Design Guidelines ◽

Additional Energy ◽

Tropical Regions ◽

Design Concepts ◽

The North ◽

Wide Range ◽

Shading Devices ◽

Intense Solar Radiation

Intense solar radiation is one of the key design problems for buildings in tropical regions. The recommended practice is to install shading devices, particularly to protect glazing systems. However, many design factors do not allow shading devices to be implemented in all cases; shading devices may not be appropriate to particular design concepts. To serve the designers' preference, alternative solutions should be provided. This study aims at investigating the performance of a new design alternative—the tilted façade. By simply tilting a wall downward, solar radiation can be minimized in the same way as a shading device. The state-of-the-art energy software, eQUEST, was used to simulate energy performance of buildings in Bangkok, Thailand. At the same time, simulated results were confirmed by using experimental data monitoring from specially customized test cells. A wide range of WWR (Window to Wall Ratio) was tested against different façade orientations, glazing types, and shading devices with similar projected lengths. Tilted façades can be most effective for all orientations except for the north. Also, tilted façades allow designers to use more glass without any additional energy consumption. Based on these results, a set of design guidelines for using tilted facades are proposed. Designers can not only utilize these guidelines to effectively adjust façade angle but also optimize the glazing size for the best energy performance.

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Thermal Comfort and Energy Performance of Atrium in Mediterranean Climate

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11041213 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (4) ◽

pp. 1213 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Reihaneh Aram ◽

Halil Alibaba

Keyword(s):

Thermal Comfort ◽

Heat Loss ◽

Mediterranean Climate ◽

Warm Season ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Cold Season ◽

The Other ◽

Office Building ◽

Building Model ◽

Window Opening

This paper aims to determine the optimal single-story office building model with a corner atrium regarding different atrium orientations and office-building window-opening ratios in the Mediterranean climate via EDSL Tas software. When window-opening ratios were 25% and 50% at the northeast and southeast orientations of atriums and office spaces, thermal comfort was achieved according to categories B and C, respectively, within the cold season. Additionally, for the northeast atrium orientation with 25%, 137.2 W and 189.5 W of heat loss and gain in the office zone, and 37.7 W and 204.7 W of heat loss and gain in the atrium zone were recorded. Moreover, for the northeast atrium orientation with 50%, 134.5 W and 134.2 W of heat loss and gain in the office zone, and 40 W and 192 W of heat loss and gain in the atrium zone were recorded. On the other hand, for the southeast atrium orientation with 25%, 108.7 W and 143 W of heat loss and gain in the office zone, and 68.8 W and 130 W of heat loss and gain in the atrium zone were recorded, while, with 50%, 111.7 W and 142.7 W of heat loss and gain in the office zone, and 67.5 W and 121.2 W of heat loss and gain in the atrium zone were recorded. In the warm season, the atrium and office spaces were not thermally comfortable.

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A Supervisory Control Strategy for Improving Energy Efficiency of Artificial Lighting Systems in Greenhouses

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14010202 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 202

Author(s):

Gianluca Serale ◽

Luca Gnoli ◽

Emanuele Giraudo ◽

Enrico Fabrizio

Keyword(s):

Control Strategy ◽

Light Emitting Diode ◽

Cost Savings ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Lighting System ◽

Light Emitting ◽

Artificial Lighting ◽

Lighting Control ◽

Lighting Systems ◽

Power Densities

Artificial lighting systems are used in commercial greenhouses to ensure year-round yields. Current Light Emitting Diode (LED) technologies improved the system efficiency. Nevertheless, having artificial lighting systems extended for hectares with power densities over 50W/m2 causes energy and power demand of greenhouses to be really significant. The present paper introduces an innovative supervisory and predictive control strategy to optimize the energy performance of the artificial lights of greenhouses. The controller has been implemented in a multi-span plastic greenhouse located in North Italy. The proposed control strategy has been tested on a greenhouse of 1 hectare with a lighting system with a nominal power density of 50 Wm−2 requiring an overall power supply of 1 MW for a period of 80 days. The results have been compared with the data coming from another greenhouse of 1 hectare in the same conditions implementing a state-of-the-art strategy for artificial lighting control. Results outlines that potential 19.4% cost savings are achievable. Moreover, the algorithm can be used to transform the greenhouse in a viable source of energy flexibility for grid reliability.

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Utilising Open Geospatial Data to Refine Weather Variables for Building Energy Performance Evaluation—Incident Solar Radiation and Wind-Driven Infiltration Modelling

Energies ◽

10.3390/en14040802 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 802

Author(s):

Kristian Skeie ◽

Arild Gustavsen

Keyword(s):

Solar Radiation ◽

Web Service ◽

Meteorological Data ◽

Surface Wind ◽

Building Energy ◽

Energy Performance ◽

Geospatial Data ◽

Weather Data ◽

Building Site ◽

Incident Solar Radiation

In building thermal energy characterisation, the relevance of proper modelling of the effects caused by solar radiation, temperature and wind is seen as a critical factor. Open geospatial datasets are growing in diversity, easing access to meteorological data and other relevant information that can be used for building energy modelling. However, the application of geospatial techniques combining multiple open datasets is not yet common in the often scripted workflows of data-driven building thermal performance characterisation. We present a method for processing time-series from climate reanalysis and satellite-derived solar irradiance services, by implementing land-use, and elevation raster maps served in an elevation profile web-service. The article describes a methodology to: (1) adapt gridded weather data to four case-building sites in Europe; (2) calculate the incident solar radiation on the building facades; (3) estimate wind and temperature-dependent infiltration using a single-zone infiltration model and (4) including separating and evaluating the sheltering effect of buildings and trees in the vicinity, based on building footprints. Calculations of solar radiation, surface wind and air infiltration potential are done using validated models published in the scientific literature. We found that using scripting tools to automate geoprocessing tasks is widespread, and implementing such techniques in conjunction with an elevation profile web service made it possible to utilise information from open geospatial data surrounding a building site effectively. We expect that the modelling approach could be further improved, including diffuse-shading methods and evaluating other wind shelter methods for urban settings.

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Occupant behaviour and thermal comfort in buildings: Monitoring the end user

E3S Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/e3sconf/201911104056 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 111 ◽

pp. 04056

Author(s):

Loes Visser ◽

Boris Kingma ◽

Eric Willems ◽

Wendy Broers ◽

Marcel Loomans ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Thermal Comfort ◽

Energy Performance ◽

The Body ◽

Activity Level ◽

Biophysical Model ◽

Zone Model ◽

Occupant Behaviour ◽

Ambient Conditions ◽

Skin Temperatures ◽

Thermoregulatory Behaviour

Studies indicate that the energy performance gap between real and calculated energy use can be explained for 80% by occupant behaviour. This human factor may be composed of routine and thermoregulatory behaviour. When occupants do not feel comfortable due to high or low operative temperatures and resulting high or low skin temperatures, they are likely to exhibit thermoregulatory behaviour. The aim of this study is to monitor and understand this thermoregulatory behaviour of the occupant. This is a detailed study of two females living in a rowhouse in the city of Heerlen (Netherlands). During a monitoring period of three weeks over a time span of three months the following parameters were monitored: activity level, clothing, micro climate, skin temperatures and thermal comfort and sensation. Their micro climate was measured at five positions on the body to assess exposed near body conditions and skin temperature. Every two hours they filled in a questionnaire regarding their thermal comfort and sensation level (7-point scale), clothing, activities and thermoregulatory behaviour. The most comfortable (optimal) temperature was calculated for each person by adopting a biophysical model, a thermoneutral zone model. This study shows unique indivual comfort patterns in relation to ambient conditions. An example is given how this information can be used to calculate the buildings energy comsumption.

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Application Of Solar Maps In Design Of Generalposition Shading Devices

Light & Engineering ◽

10.33383/2020-003 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 105-109

Author(s):

Alexander T. Dvoretsky ◽

Oleg V. Sergeichuk ◽

Alexander V. Spiridonov

Keyword(s):

Energy Efficiency ◽

Solar Radiation ◽

General Position ◽

Horizontal Plane ◽

Heating Period ◽

Cooling Period ◽

Efficiency Calculation ◽

Shading Devices ◽

Building Cooling ◽

Simplified Formula

For insolation calculations and design of shading devices (SD) comprising plane sections or fins, the method based on solar maps shall be preferred because of its high descriptiveness and universality.The article describes the algorithm of design of a general-position SD using a solar map and a shade clinometer. An example of calculation of SD geometry parameters such as fin slopes with the horizontal plane and the facade plane, distance between the fins with consideration of screening of the translucent structure during the building cooling period and of transmission of solar radiation during its heating period is given in the article. A simplified formula of a general-position SD energy efficiency calculation is proposed.

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