Dynamic Building Façades For Zero Energy Buildings

Stephen Selkowitz, Eleanor Lee, Marc LaFrance

Buildings in the U.S. are responsible for 40% of energy use and carbon, and use over 70% of all electricity. California has enacted legislation requiring 20% reductions in carbon emissions by 2020 and 80% by 2050. These goals can only be met if very large energy savings are captured in both new and existing buildings. This has led to a requirement in several states that by 2030 all new commercial buildings should be Zero Net Energy- meaning that they generate as much energy on-site as they use. In order to meet these goals, the facade must play two critical roles- reducing unnecessary heating and cooling loads to a minimum, while maximizing the positive contribution of daylight and winter thermal solar energy to the building energy balance. To further complicate the challenge these energy functions must be accomplished at the same time the visual and thermal comfort requirements are met, which can be a severe challenge for highly glazed facades, and they must be achieved affordably. The difficulty of meeting these conflicting needs has generated a debate about the proper role of highly glazing facades in these buildings. This paper summarizes recent results of extensive simulation studies and field tests of the performance of dynamic facades that are designed to meet these conflicting and rigorous performance needs.

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The Authors

Mr. Stephen Selkowitz Department Head LBNL Stephen Selkowitz leads an R&D team that focusses on energy efficiency aspects of glazings and window systems, including daylighting and thermal performance. The team has extensive software tools, tes... Read more