Influence of the Balcony Glazing Construction on Thermal Comfort of Apartments in Retrofitted Large Panel Buildings

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the annual computational simulations conducted for separate flats of a ten-story W70 large-panel building. The calculations were carried out in the Design Builder program which prepares a simulation of the building envelope as well as the separate parts of the building interior. The simulations conducted for the polish climatic conditions allowed the assessment of the thermal comfort of the entire multi-family building and of the particular flats. It is very rare to take into consideration the requirements connected with the overheating effect in the panel buildings. This issue is closely related to the thermal comfort of the building, especially during the summer months. For the last couple of years modernization of large panel buildings has become very popular. Most of the multi-family large panel buildings in Poland have already been insulated, windows were exchanged and in many cases balconies were closed with glazing constructions. Based on conducted simulations authors analyzed the microclimate conditions in different apartments, with different orientation of balconies. Different simulation steps were analyzed which allowed an evaluation of the influence of different windows, loggia glazing framings and night cooling on microclimate in different apartments.