Return to search

Windows of Opportunities : The Glazed Area and its Impact on the Energy Balance of Buildings

The impact of window area on the energy balance of a building was investigated by simulations in DEROB-LTH. The glazed area was varied in three types of buildings with different types of glazing and for several climates. One low energy house was compared to a less insulated house but identical in size and layout. Three different types of glazing were used; uncoated double glazing, double glazing with one low-e coated pane and triple glazing with two low-e coated panes. Climates with variations in solar radiation, mean temperature, altitude and latitude were chosen. The results show that if energy efficient window alternatives are chosen the flexibility of choosing the glazed area and orientation is higher. Choosing a larger area facing south resulted in a higher heating demand for uncoated double glazing in the standard house. An increased area also resulted in an increased peak load for heating for all the simulated cases. Choosing the energy efficient glazing type gave a decrease in heating demand for increased south facing glazed area in the standard house. In the low energy house the difference in heating demand between different areas was smaller than for the standard house. An office module with two types of switchable glazing and one solar control glazing unit was used in three different climates; Stockholm, Brussels and Rome. Larger window areas increase the cooling demand but if glazing types with lower solar transmittance are used, the difference in cooling demand between different window areas decreases. An extremely large window area, however, increases the peak load both for cooling and for heating and should therefore be avoided. Energy can be saved by using switchable windows instead of solar control or in particular standard glazing.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-6881
Date January 2006
CreatorsPersson, Mari-Louise
PublisherUppsala universitet, Institutionen för teknikvetenskaper, Uppsala : Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis
Source SetsDiVA Archive at Upsalla University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeDoctoral thesis, comprehensive summary, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, text
Formatapplication/pdf
Rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
RelationDigital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology, 1651-6214 ; 180

Page generated in 0.0024 seconds