Thermochromic glazing performance: From component experimental characterisation to whole building performance evaluation

Giovannini, Luigi; Favoino, Fabio; Pellegrino, Anna; Verso, Valerio Roberto Maria Lo; Serra, Valentina; Zinzi, Michele

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.113335

Cited by 45 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…For the purposes of the hotel project, properties of double-layer VO2 glazing covered by aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) described by Kang et al [17] were used for modeling of thermochromic windows. Kang et al [17] and Kamalisarvestani et al [14] reported properties of this material at 20 °C and 90 °C, therefore, referring to Giovannini et al [18], it was assumed that optical and thermal properties vary linearly between these two temperatures (Figure 7).…”

Section: Thermochromic Windowsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Design and Energy Performance Analysis of a Hotel Building in a Hot and Dry Climate: A Case Study

2021

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In times of unprecedented climate change and energy scarcity, the design and delivery of energy-efficient and sustainable buildings are of utmost importance. This study aimed to design a hotel building for hot and dry climate conditions and perform its energy performance analysis using energy simulation tools. The model of the hotel building was constructed by a graphical tool OpenStudio and EnergyPlus following the ASHRAE Standard 90.1. To reduce the energy demand of the hotel, parametric analysis was conducted and building envelope parameters such as the thickness of insulation layer in the exterior wall and the roof, thermal conductivity of insulation layer, rate of infiltration, U-factor of windows, and thermal resistance of air gap in the interior walls (R-value), window-to-wall ratio, and orientation of the building were tested and the impact on the energy use of the building was analyzed. It was found that most of the design assumptions based on the ASHRAE standard were already optimal for the considered locality, however, were still optimized further to reach the highest efficiency level. Apart from this, three sustainable technologies—thermochromic windows, phase change materials, and solar panels—were incorporated into the building and their energy consumption reduction potential was estimated by energy simulations. Cumulatively, these sustainable technologies were able to reduce the total energy use from 2417 GJ to 1593 GJ (i.e., by 824 GJ or 34%). Calculation of payback period and return on investments showed that thermochromic windows and solar panels have relatively short payback periods and high return on investments, whereas PCM was found to be economically nonviable. The findings of this study are deemed to be useful for designing a sustainable and energy-efficient hotel building in a sub-tropical climate. However, the overall design and energy performance analysis algorithm could be used for various buildings with varying climate conditions.

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Section: Thermochromic Windowsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Design and Energy Performance Analysis of a Hotel Building in a Hot and Dry Climate: A Case Study

2021

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“…It has also been reported that the temperature at which the change in optical properties occurs can be reduced, from its initial 68 °C for pure VO2, to room temperature via doping [10]. Additionally, there have been multiple studies experimentally showing the impact of thermochromics on temperature development in a model room [19,22], and modelling studies analyzing the impact of thermochromic windows on the energy consumption of buildings with full and partial window façades in different climate regions [23][24][25][26]. Additionally, there have been modeling studies investigating the influence of the hysteresis width and gradient of thermochromic material-an intrinsic material property which can be influenced experimentally-on the potential energy consumption of a building [27].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, we have deducted several other parameters that are important to ensure comparability and convey the full energy reduction potential of thermochromic windows to the glazing industry and the general public: (i) when thermochromic windows are compared to commercially available energy-efficient glazing solutions, systems with similar visible transmission have to be compared; (ii) for better comparison with commercial products, G and U-values [31,32] need to be reported; (iii) to grasp the full potential of thermochromic windows, the switching temperature has to be optimized for each system individually. Further, most modeling studies on thermochromic windows focus on the energy reduction potential in office buildings [23][24][25][26], but it is also mentioned that due to the full window façade and the high cooling demand, systems with the greatest solar heat blocking properties can show the highest energy savings even in cold climates [24]. Therefore, the adaptive properties of thermochromics do not always lead to an additional benefit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative Building Energy Simulation Study of Static and Thermochromically Adaptive Energy-Efficient Glazing in Various Climate Regions

et al. 2020

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The building sector contributes approximately one third of the total energy consumption worldwide. A large part of this energy is used for the heating and cooling of buildings, which can be drastically reduced by use of energy-efficient glazing. In this study, we performed building energy simulations on a prototypical residential building, and compared commercially available static (low-e, solar IR blocking) to newly developed adaptive thermochromic glazing systems for various climate regions. The modeling results show that static energy-efficient glazing is mainly optimized for either hot climates, where low solar heat gain can reduce cooling demands drastically, or cold climates, where low-e properties have a huge influence on heating demands. For intermediate climates, we demonstrate that adaptive thermochromic glazing in combination with a low-e coating is perfectly suited. The newly developed thermochromic glazing can lead to annual energy consumption improvement of up to 22% in comparison to clear glass, which exceeds all other glazing systems. Furthermore, we demonstrate that in the Netherlands the use of this new glazing system can lead to annual cost savings of EU 638 per dwelling (172 m2, 25% window façade), and to annual nationwide CO2 savings of 4.5 Mt. Ergo, we show that further development of thermochromic smart windows into market-ready products can have a huge economic, ecological and societal impact on all intermediate climate region in the northern hemisphere.

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“…The digital base-case building is taken from the repository of U.S. Department of Energy that provides models for various building types. The building type selected is educational to investigate problems associated with comfort in schools, as most existing studies focus on office and commercial buildings [76][77][78][79][80][81][82]. Building performance simulation (BPS) of the digital base-case building targeting thermal comfort through the Adaptive Comfort Model applicable to naturally ventilated buildings is performed.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Framework to Achieve Multifunctionality in Biomimetic Adaptive Building Skins

et al. 2020

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Building skins should host multiple functions for increased performance. Addressing this, their design can benefit by learning from nature to achieve multifunctionality, where multifunctional strategies have evolved over years. However, existing frameworks to develop biomimetic adaptive building skins (Bio-ABS) have limited capabilities transferring multifunctionality from nature into designs. This study shows that through investigating the principles of hierarchy and heterogeneity, multifunctionality in nature can be transferred into biomimetic strategies. We aim at mapping the existing knowledge in biological adaptations from the perspective of multifunctionality and developing a framework achieving multifunctionality in Bio-ABS. The framework is demonstrated through the case study of Echinocactus grusonii implemented as a Bio-ABS on a digital base-case building. The methods include the Bio-ABS case study demonstrating the framework and simulating the performance of the case study and base-case building to comparatively analyze the results. The outcomes are a framework to develop multifunctional Bio-ABS and simulation results on the performance improvement Bio-ABS offer. The performance comparison between the Bio-ABS and base-case building show that there is a decrease in the discomfort hours by a maximum of 23.18%. In conclusion, translating heterogeneity and hierarchy principles in nature into engineered designs is a key aspect to achieve multifunctionality in Bio-ABS offering improved strategies in performance over conventional buildings.

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Thermochromic glazing performance: From component experimental characterisation to whole building performance evaluation

Cited by 45 publications

References 41 publications

Design and Energy Performance Analysis of a Hotel Building in a Hot and Dry Climate: A Case Study

Design and Energy Performance Analysis of a Hotel Building in a Hot and Dry Climate: A Case Study

Comparative Building Energy Simulation Study of Static and Thermochromically Adaptive Energy-Efficient Glazing in Various Climate Regions

A Framework to Achieve Multifunctionality in Biomimetic Adaptive Building Skins

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