A comparative life cycle assessment of three high-performance glazing systems for office buildings in a hot desert climate zone

Abstract

In hot desert climates, the office buildings with high-performance glazing systems (HPGSs) provide better indoor thermal and visual comfort to the occupants due to the advanced coatings which prevent the undesired heat gain and daylight. However, these systems save energy in the use phase; it could consume more energy in the pre-use and post-use phases. Furthermore, the use of advanced materials may have negative impacts on the environment. Therefore, this paper selected the comparative life cycle assessment method as an environmental measuring tool to compare the energy consumption and the environmental impacts of three HPGSs with that of the conventional clear double-glazing system. The results show that the photovoltaic glazing system (PVGS) has the lowest energy consumption and the lowest environmental impacts, followed by the electrochromic glazing system (ECGS) and the low-E glazing system. In the use phase, both PVGS and ECGS achieved the highest energy savings, 87% and 25%, respectively. The use phase has a major contribution to the energy consumption and environmental impacts, while the pre-use and post-use phases have insignificant contributions in this study. The results could support decision-makers in choosing the most environmentally friendly HPGS for their projects.