Abstract
Buildings represent more than 40% of Europe's energy demands and about one third of its CO2 emissions. Energy efficient buildings and, in particular, building skins have therefore been among the key priorities of international research agendas. Here, glass–glass fluidic devices are presented for large‐area integration with adaptive façades and smart windows. These devices enable harnessing and dedicated control of various liquids for added functionality in the building envelope. Combining a microstructured glass pane, a thin cover sheet with tailored mechanical performance, and a liquid for heat storage and transport, a flat‐panel laminate is generated with thickness adapted to a single glass sheet in conventional windows. Such multimaterial devices can be integrated with state‐of‐the‐art window glazings or façades to harvest and distribute thermal as well as solar energy by wrapping buildings into a fluidic layer. High visual transparency is achieved through adjusting the optical properties of the employed liquid. Also secondary functionality, such as chromatic windows, polychromatism, or adaptive energy uptake can be generated on part of the liquid.
Highlights
Introduction thermal performanceAccording to several recent studies, buildings account for more than 40% of the total EuropeanGlass has become an essential component in modern building energy consumption[14] and generate more than one third of skins
We introduce glass–glass fluidic devices for large-area integration with adaptive façades and smart windows. 2.2
We presented glass–glass fluidic devices for largearea integration with adaptive façades and smart windows. These devices comprise a heat-storing fluid which is transported through microchannels. The latter are directly integrated into the glass pane and, enable very thin structure design for integration with state-of-the-art glazing, low weight, and appealing optical properties
Summary
Guaranteeing homogenous flow within the microchannels avoids potential particle accumulations in some parts of the reactor, prevents energy losses through uniform heat dissipation and guarantees an even liquid and (in case the liquid is intentionally loaded with particles) particle distribution in the façade element, for example, in an application as a shading device. It is important to achieve a homogeneous distribution of the fluid over all capillaries. Close to the fluid inlet, the velocity. Regarding the fluid motion within the system, the simulation model could not be validated experimentally, yet. According to the simulation results, a homogeneous distribution would rather be expected (see Figure 8). C) Absolute difference between experimental and computational data
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