Abstract
Office buildings are usually characterized by low thermal inertia, which could cause underperformance in terms of energy consumption. Moreover, the use of large glazed façades in office buildings can cause thermal and visual discomfort due to high solar heat gains and excessive daylight transmitted into the office space. Phase Change Materials (PCMs) integrated into glazing have arisen as an innovative strategy to increase thermal inertia and improve office buildings’ energy performance and indoor comfort at a low cost. This paper aims to analyze the impact of PCM glazing on buildings’ energy performance and occupants’ thermal and visual comfort. The analysis is performed through a one-year real-scale experiment in two offices in Santiago, Chile, with an east-oriented façade and a window-to-wall ratio (WWR) of 56%. The results are analyzed on two timescales: seasonally and daily. Representative days in each season were selected to carry out the analysis. Regarding the energy consumption of the HVAC system, PCM glazing reduces energy consumption during summer and mid-seasons and significantly reduces the peak loads in summer. A meaningful improvement in thermal comfort is achieved due to the control of the mean radiant temperature for the whole year. Considering visual comfort, there is an improvement in the luminance distribution in winter and mid-season cold conditions.
Highlights
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the building sector is responsible for 40% of CO2 emissions and consumes 36% of end-use energy [1]
Seasonal results from the complete dataset for energy consumption, thermal comfort, and visual comfort are presented as boxplots in terms of daily energy consumption in kWh, Predicted Mean Vote (PMV), PMV*, and Daylight Glare Probability (DGP) (Figures 6–8, respectively)
Mean radiant temperature was the primary source of higher values of PMV and PMV* because it was observed that mean radiant temperature peaks occurred at the same time as PMV and PMV* peaks
Summary
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), the building sector is responsible for 40% of CO2 emissions and consumes 36% of end-use energy [1]. Heating and cooling are the major end-use energy in buildings (65% of the total buildings’ energy consumption) [2], and they are strongly related to the building envelope. Office buildings are mainly built with glazed façades instead of opaque thermally insulated façades. Glazing façades are characterized by lower thermal inertia. Office buildings with large glazing façades are affected by excessive solar heat gains and daylight that might cause high cooling energy consumption and thermal and visual discomfort. It is necessary to develop new advances in glazing technologies to improve the thermal performance of the glazed façade of office buildings [4]
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