Evaluation of Thermal Comfort and Energy Consumption of Water Flow Glazing as a Radiant Heating and Cooling System: A Case Study of an Office Space

Abstract

Large glass areas, even high-performance glazing with Low-E coating, could lead to discomfort if exposed to solar radiation due to radiant asymmetry. In addition, air-to-air cooling systems affect the thermal environment indoors. Water-Flow Glazing (WFG) is a disruptive technology that enables architects and engineers to design transparent and translucent facades with new features, such as energy management. Water modifies the thermal behavior of glass envelopes, the spectral distribution of solar radiation, the non-uniform nature of radiation absorption, and the diffusion of heat by conduction across the glass pane. The main goal of this article was to assess energy consumption and comfort conditions in office spaces with a large glass area by using WFG as a radiant heating and cooling system. This article evaluates the design and operation of an energy management system coupled with WFG throughout a year in an actual office space. Temperature, relative humidity, and solar radiation sensors were connected to a control unit that actuated the different devices to keep comfortable conditions with minimum energy consumption. The results in summer conditions revealed that if the mean radiant temperature ranged from 19.3 to 23 °C, it helped reduce the operative temperature to comfortable levels when the indoor air temperature was between 25 and 27.5 °C. The Predicted Mean Vote in summer conditions was between 0 and −0.5 in working hours, within the recommended values of ASHRAE-55 standard.

Disruption Potential Assessment of the Power-to-Methane Technology

“…The disruptive technology theory is usually applied in business and innovation management research and is less frequently applied in technical contexts or for examining new energy technologies. In broader context, technology-and disruption-focused scholars currently pay attention to digital solutions (e.g., [21][22][23][24][25]), and there are few similar disruption-focused studies in energy research (e.g., [26][27][28][29]). For example, Ullah et al [30] examined the adoption of blockchain technology for energy management in developing countries discussing the distributed ledger technology as disruptive.…”

Optimising Building Energy and Comfort Predictions with Intelligent Computational Model

“…The outcome variables used for this study were the EC (cooling/heating load) and student TDHs. These variables are considered important and widely used in measuring the energy performance and student thermal satisfaction in educational institutions [79,80].…”

Effect of Architectural Building Design Parameters on Thermal Comfort and Energy Consumption in Higher Education Buildings

“…The thermal discomfort hours output was based on whether the humidity ratio and the operative temperature were within the region of the ASHRAE 55 Standard [82]. In this study, the energy consumption (cooling/heating load) and students' thermal discomfort hours were assigned as output variables because they are significant and common indicators of the energy performance and level of student thermal satisfaction in educational buildings [83,84].…”