Thermal comfort conditions near highly glazed façades : an experimental and simulation study

There is a current trend of designing new commercial buildings with large glazed facade areas. Maintaining comfort in the perimeter zones of these buildings is difficult due to their exposure to solar radiation and cold outdoor air temperature. Designing these buildings with high-performance fenestration systems, however, can improve energy performance, provide a high-quality thermal and visual environment, and reduce thermal loads. This study presents an experimental and simulation study of thermal comfort conditions of a perimeter zone office with a glass facade and solar shading device. The study investigates the impact of climate, glazing type, and shading device properties on thermal comfort conditions. The objective of this study is to determine the facade properties that will provide a comfortable indoor environment without the need for secondary perimeter heating. Experimental measurements were taken in an office equipped with two different shading devices: venetian blind and roller shade. The thermal environment was measured with thermocouples, an indoor climate analyzer, and thermal comfort meter. For the simulation study, a one-dimensional transient thermal simulation model of a typical glazed perimeter zone office and a transient two-node thermal comfort model were developed. The impact of solar radiation and shading device properties on thermal comfort was also quantified. Simulation results were compared with experimental measurements. The impact of diffuser location for primary heating supply on indoor airflow and comfort is also investigated using computational fluid dynamics software and it is shown that good comfort is achieved without the presence of perimeter heating.

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