Impacts of Different Window-Shading Assemblies on Energy, Thermal Comfort and Daylighting for a South-Facing, Mid-Rise Office Building in Florida

With an ever-increasing cooling energy demand of buildings in hot and humid climates like in Florida, using a well-designed window-shading system is considered as an efficient strategy that minimizes the direct sunlight reaching indoors and thus, reduces the overall energy loads. While reduction in energy loads is important, the indoor comfort of occupants should not be compromised. Individual thermal and solar properties of glazing and shading systems only provide information based on static evaluations. It is, therefore, very important to assess the efficiency of these systems as a whole assembly under the site-specific conditions. Using different types of window-shading assemblies, this research was conducted to evaluate the impact on the overall performance of a south-facing building in Floridathrough:(1) calculating total energy consumption; and (2) analyzing indoor thermal and visual comfort. The results were then presented to suggest economic and efficient design strategies for south-oriented facades.