Exploiting Passive Cooling in Office Buildings with Advanced Automated Glazing Systems: Preliminary Analyses from a Field Study

This paper explores the impact of innovative fenestration systems to counter the cooling energy use in buildings, exploiting the potential of passive technologies and contributing to better understand the role of dynamically operated building envelopes. The windows have the shading system integrated in the glazing unit and a sash with motorized opening, these functions can be operated by the smart building management system according to given control strategies. The study presents preliminary results of a wider project based on field monitoring and numerical analyses. The former showed that the combination of solar protection and night ventilation reduced the indoor temperature by 1.4 and 2.2 °C in the rooms equipped with new triple and double glazing unit, respectively, compared to those equipped with the existing old windows. A numerical model was calibrated versus monitored data, the thermal simulation in transient regime conditions demonstrated the solar protection and night free cooling might provide energy savings up to 76%.