Environmental and Energy Performances of the Nearly Net-Zero Energy Solar Decathlon House with Dynamic Facades: A Comparison of Four Climate Regions

Abstract

Dynamic facades allow for effective climate adaptability, representing a new trend in future building envelope design. Present research on dynamic facades often focuses solely on certain aspects of the built environment or relies entirely on simulation outcomes. Meanwhile, the real-time changing nature of dynamic facades poses challenges in accurately simulating these schemes. Therefore, it remains essential to quantify the energy consumption performances of different types of dynamic facades and their influence on the indoor environment comfort in response to ventilation, light, and thermal environment to improve energy savings. This study uses an energy management system to simulate the ability of five dynamic facades—an intelligent ventilated facade, a dynamic exterior shading, a dynamic interior shading, a buffer layer, and phase-change material (PCM) facades—to provide adequate comfort and reduce energy consumption in four climate zones in China. The simulation model of a nearly net-zero energy Solar Decathlon house “Nature Between” was validated with experimental data. Among the five dynamic facades, the energy-saving efficiency of intelligent ventilation was highest, followed by exterior shading. Compared with houses without dynamic facades, the use of the dynamic facades reduced energy consumption (and annual glare time) by 19.87% (90.65%), 22.37% (74.84%), 15.19% (72.09%), and 9.23% (75.53%) in Xiamen, Shanghai, Beijing, and Harbin, respectively. Findings regarding the dynamic facade-driven energy savings and favorable indoor environment comfort provide new and actionable insights into the design and application of dynamic facades in four climate regions in China.