Water-flow window combines the functions of transparent building envelop, solar collector, as well as sun shading. Coloured particles are added to the flowing water within window cavity in order to provide extra shading, prevent indoor glare and enhance solar collection. The energy consumption of both air-conditioning system and water heating device can be further reduced. The aim of present investigation is to predict and analyze the year-round energy performance of a well-insulated water-flow window with different shading control modes. Accordingly, physical model of water-flow window is built up. FORTRAN program is developed and utilized in the numerical simulation. Results show that water-flow window can achieve exceptional sun blocking and cooling load reduction without occupying extra space. The year-round solar energy collection efficiency is within the range of 17.95∼21.06%. At the same time, indoor heat gain through the window can be reduced by around 50% compared with common double-layer window. The water-flow window under discussion has great application potential in buildings with constant hot water demand and high-density air-conditioning cooling load. In practice, the shading control mode should be carefully decided, and factors including climate region, hot water demand, window size and occupants' preference on indoor light environment should be taken into consideration. Numerical simulation proves to be an efficient method in predicting the energy performance of similar innovative-designed windows and a good assist in decision-making of real projects.
Solar shading is important in buildings for better indoor thermal/light environment and energy conservation, especially in the tropical region. Compared with conventional windows with additional fixed shading devices, windows with adaptive self-shading functions take up less space and require less management labor. The present investigation focuses on a compact liquid-infill tunable window, which can provide adaptive shading with colored liquid-infill according to the surrounding environment. The numerical model of the liquid-infill tunable window was established on the basis of the law of energy and mass conservation, which enabled prediction of the adaptive response of the window under different boundary conditions. Then the thermal performance of this innovative window was analyzed in comparison with triple-layered clear glass windows. Influences of solar radiation level, incident angle, and ambient temperature were taken into consideration. The window was proven to be efficient in reducing indoor heat gain in the cooling season under strong solar radiation. With an 60° incident angle, the total indoor heat gain through window can be reduced by 1.60–8.33%. In the future, the established numerical model may be inserted into existing building simulation software as an energy-efficient window module to evaluate its energy and economic performance. The present study may inspire architectures and engineers in the design of near-zero energy and/or carbon neutral buildings.
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