Increasing Energy Efficiency of the Translucent Enclosure Walls of a Building

Until the 21st century, in the countries of cold climate, windows have been considered to be the elements of the buildings, through which large quantities of heat leak in the heating season. Nowadays modern technologies allow engineers to improve thermodynamic characteristics of these external enclosures, so that in some cases, even a favorable thermal balance can be obtained. However, better results can still be achieved. The paper presents the results of the research into energy balance of enclosure walls depending on geometric characteristics and glazed areas of a building. In this context, the possibility of using a dynamic window protection system is discussed and its influence on the energy balance is determined. The results obtained show that the influence is considerable. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Vilnius Gediminas Technical University