This study is an evaluation of thermal performance according to curtain wall frame types. Heat transfer simulations were conducted on the currently preferred aluminum, steel and scagliola frames, which improved thermal performance and actual frames were produced for thermal performance experiments. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: when heat transfer simulation was conducted to compare the thermal performance of the three frames for summer and winter, scagliola showed the lowest temperature difference, both inside and outside with excellent thermal performance compared to the aluminum/steel frame. Also, as a result of a mock-up test based on the simulation results, for both night and day, the temperature difference was found to be lowest for the scagliola frame. Therefore, it was found that by applying the scagliola frame which improves on the thermal performance of the aluminum/steel frame, the heat loss from frames can be reduced.

Windcatcher louvers are designed to capture air flowing outside a building in order to increase its natural ventilation. There are no studies that have designed the shape of the louver to increase the natural ventilation efficiency of the building. This study aimed to conduct a computational fluid dynamics simulation and mock-up test of a Clark Y airfoil-type windcatcher louver designed to increase the natural ventilation in a building. The following test results were obtained. The optimal angle of attack of the airfoil was calculated via a numerical analysis, which demonstrated that the wind speed was at its highest when the angle of attack was 8°; further, flow separation occurred at angles exceeding 8°, at which point the wind speed began to decrease. The results of the mock-up test demonstrated that the time required to reduce the concentration of fine particles in the indoor air was 120 s shorter when the windcatcher was installed than when it was not, which indicating that the time to reduce particles represents a 37.5%reduction. These results can be seen as reducing the energy consumption of ventilation in the building because the natural ventilation efficiency is increased.

In South Korea, the gradual increase in particulate matter generation has received significant attention from central and local governments. Exhaust gas, which contains nitrogen oxides (NOx), is one of the main sources of particulate matter. In this study, the reduction of NOx using a coating material mixed with a titanium dioxide (TiO2) photocatalyst was demonstrated. The NOx reduction performance of the TiO2 photocatalyst-infused coating was evaluated by applying the ISO 22197-1 2007 standard. Subsequently, the performance was evaluated by changing the NO gas concentration and ultraviolet (UV)-A irradiance under standard experimental conditions. It was determined that NOx reduction can be achieved even if the NO gas concentration and UV-A irradiance are lower than those under the standard conditions when the TiO2 photocatalyst-infused coating was used. This study revealed that NOx reduction can be realized through TiO2 photocatalyst-infused coating in winter or cloudy days with a low solar altitude. It was also confirmed that compared with the UV-A irradiance, the NO gas concentration has a greater effect on the NOx reduction performance of the TiO2 photocatalyst-infused coating. These findings can be used to evaluate a variety of construction materials with TiO2 photocatalysts in the future.

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