SHARMIN KHAN
Abstract
The buildings in the present scenario are consuming a lot of energy through electrical and mechanical means to provide thermal comfort. The building façade plays an important role in the whole building's energy performance. The energy demand is led by heating and cooling and artificial lighting. This research aims to examine the performance of various strategies on the building’s facade to limit solar radiation and reduce cooling loads by different facade materials application. Four different modules, having different facade material applications are hypothetically assumed in Indian climatic condition, for the purpose of the study. The design strategies considered are; material properties, openings, and daylight, solar loads, percentage of glazing factors. This research applies the simulation method using Autodesk Revit with plugin FenestraPro, to investigate various building model’s implications to calculate three building factors; glazing, solar loads and daylighting. Simulation is done to explore better performative building’s facade and achieve the best possible outcome. A comparative analysis of all four modules based on facade performance, solar load, daylighting, and annual average solar radiation received by facades is presented as an aid for decision making regarding facade selection.
Keywords
Building facade, glazing, solar load, daylighting, facade performance, simulation