Abstract

External Solar shadings have long been designed as an integral part of a building’s facade for functional, aesthetic and privacy reasons. From a functional aspect, it is used to reduce heat and glare, thus helping to improve the thermal as well as lighting quality of the building. In a tropical climate, the yearlong sun radiation, especially those facing the eastern and western building facades with large glazed surfaces may show severe thermal and glare discomfort issues. This paper analyses the impact of the existing shading system of the vertical and horizontal fins and green facades of The Admiralty Village building in Singapore. A thermal imaging camera was used to detect thermal readings from all of the facade’s shading systems. From the result comparison, each facade of the building requires a different shading treatment due to the different sunlight angles. The south facade is best shaded with horizontal shading. East and west facades require shading that blocks sunlight entering at low angles. The north facade can be left unshaded. Green walls with highly dense vegetation perform more effectively than thermal insulation in reducing the cooling load of the building. This study further convinced the need for solar shading devices, especially in the southern facades of tropical countries.

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