Contribution of Water Flow Glazing to Net-Zero Energy Buildings

Net-zero energy buildings (NetZEBs) are of a building typology designed to combine energy efficiency and renewable energy generation to consume only as much energy as produced onsite through renewable resources over a specified time. The successful creation of NetZEBs is crucial to combating the current climate crisis. Water flow glazing (WFG) is a key technology that will assist in achieving this goal. Several experimental facilities have been designed and constructed to collect data based on WFG technology. These experimental facilities demonstrate that the successful implementation of WFG will allow reducing heating and cooling loads, primary energy consumption, and CO2 emissions. However, a wrong WFG selection can lead to failure in NetZEBs design. The goal of this text was to assess WFG performance through key performance indicators to understand the need of other renewable energies so that the construction of NetZEBs becomes a realistic target.