Energy analysis of the daylighting from a double-pane glazed window with enclosed horizontal slats in the tropics

Abstract Daylighting is perceived to be a potential measure for energy conservation in commercial buildings. In Thailand where the sky is highly luminous and daytime is long throughout the year, daylighting is however neglected by the use of heat reflective glasses to prevent excessive solar gain from windows. To address the issue, this paper investigates the energy performance of the daylighting from a window with horizontal slats located between two panes of glasses (slat window). The slats can shade the intense beam radiation, but allow penetration of the diffuse daylight for interior illumination. In the study, a model was developed to determine the thermal gain from the slat window. By using the thermal model together with the daylight model developed earlier, the simulations were performed and the results show that the slat window, when used with typical office room, can save 25–70% of the total electrical energy of air-conditioning and lighting in the same room equipped with heat reflective glass window.

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