ABSTRACT
Openings are required in buildings to bring daylight and fresh air, and provide outdoor views. The energy for artificial electric light can be reduced if there is sufficient daylight in the space. However, daylight increases the heat gain in a space. If the climate is hot/warm, it results in an increase in the air-conditioning energy consumption. Hence, there is a need to optimize the window-to-wall ratio (WWR) to get the minimum energy consumption while getting sufficient daylight. Choosing glass type is also important for buildings; building glass is specified by some important properties such as U-value, solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) and visible light transmittance (VLT). This chapter, through the tutorials, explains how to analyse the impact of different glazing types, fixed shades and operable shades for a given climate. This can be useful in the analysis of different designs and approaches for reducing solar heat gains through windows.
