Smart utilization of solar energy with Optic-Variable Wall (OVW) for thermal comfort

Abstract

Smart utilization of solar energy with OVW (Optic-Variable Wall) for thermal comfort is verified. The application of OVW in passive buildings is discussed. With no active heating & cooling measure adopted for building located in Shanghai, OVW can offer relatively comfortable environment in the whole year period. Compared with reflective OFW (Optic-Fixed Wall with high reflectivity), the cold period in winter is shortened and meanwhile the summer is kept cool. Compared with absorptive OFW (Optic-Fixed Wall with low reflectivity), the hot period in summer is enormously suppressed and the winter is kept warm. The performance of thermal comfort, e.g. Discomfort Hours, Discomfort-Degree Hours and Discomfort Degree, is significantly improved. Comparing with OFW, both reflective and absorptive, less discomfort hours and less discomfort-degree hours are concluded with the adoption of OVW. The average discomfort-degree of OVW is the least in summer as well as in winter, although the average discomfort-degree in the whole-year period is slightly larger than absorptive OFW. It is also concluded that absorptive OFW performs better than reflective OFW on Discomfort-Degree Hours, but worse on Discomfort Hours. The results are also meaningful for other applications, such as vehicles and light-steel-structured industrial warehouse.