A Comprehensive Analysis of Energy and Daylighting Impact of Window Shading Systems and Control Strategies on Commercial Buildings in the United States

Niraj Kunwar and Mahabir Bhandari
Additional contact information
Niraj Kunwar: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Mahabir Bhandari: Energy and Transportation Science Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge TN 37831, USA

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 9, 1-21

Abstract: Commercial buildings consume approximately 1.9 EJ of energy in the United States, 50% of which is for heating, cooling, and lighting applications. It is estimated that windows contribute up to 34% of the energy used for heating and cooling. However, window retrofits are not often undertaken to increase energy efficiency because of the high cost and disruptive nature of window installation. Highly efficient window technologies would also need shading devices for glare prevention and visual comfort. An automated window shading system with an appropriate control strategy is a technology that can reduce energy demand, maintain occupant comfort, and enhance the aesthetics and privacy of the built environment. However, the benefits of the automated shades currently used by the shading industry are not well studied. The topic merits an analysis that will help building owners, designers and engineers, and utilities make informed decisions using knowledge of the impact of this technology on energy consumption, peak demand, daylighting, and occupant comfort. This study uses integrated daylight and whole-building energy simulation to evaluate the performance of various control strategies that the shading industry uses in commercial office buildings. The analysis was performed for three different vintages of medium office buildings at six different locations in United States. The results obtained show the control strategies enabled cooling energy savings of up to 40% using exterior shading, and lighting energy savings of up to 25%. The control strategies described can help building engineers and researchers explore different control methods used to control shading in actual buildings but rarely discussed in the literature. This information will give researchers the opportunity to investigate potential improvements in current technologies and their performance.

Keywords: window attachments; shading device; automated controls; daylighting; energy; EnergyPlus™ (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/9/2401/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/9/2401/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:13:y:2020:i:9:p:2401-:d:356764

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().