The Control of Venetian Blinds: A Solution for Reduction of Energy Consumption Preserving Visual Comfort

Glazing surfaces strongly affect the building energy balance considering heat losses, solar gains and daylighting. Appropriate operation of the screens is required to control the transmitted solar radiation, preventing internal overheating while assuring visual comfort. Consequently, in the building...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energies (Basel) 2020-04, Vol.13 (7), p.1731
Main Authors: Nicoletti, Francesco, Carpino, Cristina, Cucumo, Mario A., Arcuri, Natale
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advantages
Automation
Building design
Buildings
Carbon dioxide
Climate change
Computer programs
Control systems
Control systems design
Cooling
Corporate headquarters
Energy balance
Energy consumption
energy saving
Experiments
Glazing
Inclination
Lighting
Natural lighting
Orientation behavior
Overheating
Sensors
Simulation
Slats
smart solar shading
Software
Solar energy
Solar radiation
Solar radiation shielding
Summer
venetian blinds
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Summary:Glazing surfaces strongly affect the building energy balance considering heat losses, solar gains and daylighting. Appropriate operation of the screens is required to control the transmitted solar radiation, preventing internal overheating while assuring visual comfort. Consequently, in the building design phase, solar control systems have become crucial devices to achieve high energy standards. An operation based on well-defined control strategies can help to reduce cooling energy consumption and ensure appropriate levels of natural lighting. The present study aims at investigating the effect of smart screening strategies on the energy consumption of a test building designed in the Mediterranean climate. With the aim of automatically setting the inclination of venetian blind slats, the necessary equations are analytically found out and applied. Equations obtained are based on the position of the sun with respect to the wall orientation. In the case of a cloudy day or an unlit surface, empirical laws are determined to optimize the shielding. These are extrapolated through energy simulations conducted with the EnergyPlus software. Finally, using the same software, the actual benefits obtained by the method used are assessed, in terms of energy and CO2 emissions saved in a test environment.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en13071731