Energy Saving Opportunities through Glazing and Shading Alternatives

Windows are the weakest elements due to their high heat transfer coefficient and are responsible for 60% energy heat/gain loss. Healthcare buildings are one of the biggest consumers of energy due to continuous occupation hours and medical requirements, providing comfortable conditions for people in need of care and staff; yet recently less attention was given to healthcare buildings due to their unique operational requirements and advanced medical equipment. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to evaluate energy saving potentials of windows through glazing and shading alternatives over a case study. Within this study, a single patient room in Izmir Turkey has been chosen as a case study, and the room was simulated for sixteen scenarios generated by using four different glazing and shading systems. Each design scenario was simulated using DALEC for their lighting, heating, cooling, and total energy consumption. Results showed that lighting energy consumption constitutes the highest energy demand (up to 52%) and high transmitting glazing usage can reduce lighting loads. Finally, up to 16.3%, energy saving is possible only by changing shading and glazing types. Though there is a great diversity of glazing and shading types, this study’s outputs only reflect the selected four glazing and four shading system types that are offered by DALEC. 
Healthcare buildings spend a vast amount of energy to provide thermal and visual comfort for various user profiles. Considering the large number of patient rooms in healthcare facilities, only careful consideration of glazing or shadings can significantly contribute to energy savings. This study focuses on shading and glazing alternatives as an energy-saving strategy. For simulation, an underrecognized BES tool DALEC was hyped to show integrated thermal and visual energy consumption. The findings highlight that energy savings of up to 16.3% is possible.