Impact of Window Films on the Overall Energy Consumption of Existing UK Hotel Buildings

Abstract

Abstract:Recently, considerable attention has justifiably been directed towards energy savings in buildings as they account for up to 20-40% of total energy consumption in developed countries. In the United Kingdom, studies have revealed that buildings' CO 2 emissions for account for at least 43% of total emissions. Window panels are a major component of the building fabric with considerable influence on the façade energy performance and are accountable for up to 60% of a building's overall energy loss. Therefore, the thermal performance of glazing materials is an important issue within the built environment. This work evaluates the impact of solar window films on the overall energy consumption of an existing commercial building via the use of a case study U.K. hotel and TAS dynamic simulation software. The study results demonstrated that the impact of window films on the overall energy consumption of the case study hotel is approximately 2%. However, an evaluation of various overall energy consumption components showed that the window films reduce the annual total cooling energy consumption by up to 35% along with a marginal 2% increase in the annual total heating energy consumption. They can also provide overall cost and CO 2 emissions savings of up to 3%.

Impact of Low-E Window Films on Energy Consumption and CO2 Emissions of an Existing UK Hotel Building

“…TAS is designed by the Engineering Development Solutions Limited (Milton Keynes, UK) and comprises different modules such as 3D Modeller, Building Simulator, Systems, etc., that simulate the thermal performance of the building and estimate the building's energy consumption. TAS provides the opportunity to combine the dynamic thermal simulation of the building with control functions over natural and mixed mode ventilations [13]. A detailed description about the software and its capabilities can be found in [30,31].…”

“…The building façade is mostly covered in curtain wall with a double-glazed unit comprising two 4 mm clear panes with a 50 mm air-filled gap. As the building was built in 2009, it complies with the 2006 UK building regulation [13]. The building is sealed and fully air conditioned.…”

“…As this is a continuation of a previous study [13], the Low-E window films from the same manufacturer, 3M company [33], are used in this study, with the commercial name of Thinsulate Climate Control 75 and a transparent look. It also offers improvement in Low-E characteristics compared to similar products.…”

“…Tables 1 and 2 show the specification of 3M Thinsulate Climate Control film. In order to compare this film with another product of the same company, which was previously investigated by [13], the specifications of 3M Sun Control Prestige 70 and 40 Exterior are also illustrated. Thinsulate coating is expected to be suitable both in winter and summer time, which is due to qualities such as solar heat reduction during the summer and a reduction in radiative heat loss during the winter.…”

Estimation and Validation of Energy Consumption in UK Existing Hotel Building Using Dynamic Simulation Software

“…The UK government has justifiably put considerable focus towards reducing the CO 2 emissions from buildings (residential and commercial) because studies/analyses have shown that they account for at least 43% [7,8]. To achieve the CO 2 emissions reduction, it is important to significantly reduce emissions from existing buildings which makes up the bulk of buildings during this period, especially commercial ones such as hotels which accounts for one of the top sectors [9].…”