Development of a simplified method for intelligent glazed façade design under different control strategies and verified by building simulation tool BSim

Publication date: April 2014
Source:Building and Environment, Volume 74
Author(s): Mingzhe Liu , Kim Bjarne Wittchen , Per Kvols Heiselberg
The research aims to develop a simplified calculation method for intelligent glazed facade under different control conditions (night shutter, solar shading and natural ventilation) to simulate the energy performance and indoor environment of an office room installed with the intelligent facade. The method took the angle dependence of the solar characteristic into account, including the simplified hourly building model developed according to EN 13790 to evaluate the influence of the controlled façade on both the indoor environment (indoor air temperature, solar transmittance through the façade and the illuminance level on a chosen point) and the energy performance of the room. The parameters calculated by the simplified method were compared with the Danish building simulation tool BSim in an hourly calculation with the weather data of the Danish reference year. By using the simplified method, it is possible to calculate the whole year performance of a room or building with intelligent glazed façade, which makes it a less time consuming tool to investigate the performance of the intelligent façade under different control strategies in the design stage with acceptable accuracy. Results showed good agreement between the simplified method and BSim in terms of simulating the energy and comfort performance of the room.