Abstract
In the Mediterranean climate, a large number of educational buildings suffer from discomfort due mostly to energy-deficient thermal envelopes and a lack of cooling systems. Impending climate change is expected to worsen overheating in classrooms, especially during heatwave periods. Therefore, the protection of window openings to reduce incident solar radiation while maintaining adequate indoor environmental quality must be considered a necessary key focus. The main objective of this research is to assess the influence of an egg-crate shading device on the indoor environmental quality of a classroom in Southern Spain. To do so, two classrooms—with and without this shading device—were simultaneously monitored over a whole year. The implementation of an egg-crate shading device allowed for a significant reduction of the incident solar radiation, both in summer and mid-season (around 45–50%), which objectively slightly conditioned indoor operative temperatures. Given the noticeable influence of the user patterns observed, indoor illuminance was also improved, as the rolling shutters tended to be opened at higher aperture levels.
Highlights
The increase in outdoor temperatures and overheating due to global warming is starting to impact retrofitting strategies for existing buildings, especially educational buildings in the Mediterranean climate
The main objective of this research is to assess the influence of an egg-crate shading device on the indoor environmental quality of a classroom in Southern Spain
The implementation of an egg-crate shading device allowed for a significant reduction of the incident solar radiation, both in summer and mid-season, which objectively slightly conditioned indoor operative temperatures
Summary
The increase in outdoor temperatures and overheating due to global warming is starting to impact retrofitting strategies for existing buildings, especially educational buildings in the Mediterranean climate This problem takes on great importance in classrooms because of the significant influence of indoor conditions derived from high internal gains from high occupancy. The extensive data collected in these studies [28,29,30] allowed for a statistical analysis that revealed a direct correlation between the indoor comfort temperature and the outdoor one, leading to the formulation of Equation (1) as the base of the adaptive approach. Both classrooms include an artificial lighting system, with four luminaires with two 36 W fluorescent lamps each
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