Comprehensive analysis on thermal and daylighting performance of glazing and shading designs on office building envelope in cooling-dominant climates

Conducting energy-efficient designs on building window can be a solution to relieving the pressure caused by growing building energy consumption. In this paper, a series of simulation studies were carried out to evaluate the performance of several popular energy-efficient window designs in cooling-dominant climates. Both thermal and daylighting performance were considered during the analysis. Results indicate that among all designs studied, low-e glazing achieves a best performance, while double-layer glazing performs the worst. Energy-efficient designs on the east and west orientations are the most cost-effective in cooling-dominant climates. As latitude rises, the performance of window designs on the south orientation is getting better. It is also discovered that only in area very close to equator performance of north facing window designs is satisfactory. Furthermore, as the reflectivity of blind louver decreases, both thermal and daylighting performances drop. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.