Window assessment at different level height on a Portuguese typical street canyon

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a study investigating the ventilation mode, the solar heat gain and daylight performance via vertical fenestration on a street canyon. In recent years there has been a growing awareness in energy-efficient building design and operation of the building stock. Dynamic envelope/window systems have potential to optimize the performance of the building, between airing, solar heat gain and daylight admission. However, higher thermal resistance glazing implies a reduction of solar transmittance. A typical street canyon in Portugal was used for the present study. Three different room ratios and two types of windows at two different floors were used for comparison. Different simulation tools were used during this study. To be comparable with other studies several ratios were present, as the window/wall, the glazing/wall ratios, the window/floor and the glazing/floor ratios as well as the window opening area. This paper presents the obtained airflow and solar gains on both heating and cooling season in addition to the level of daylight factor. It was found that specific adaptive actions to improve indoor environmental quality and reduce the need of energy consumption are needed.