Innovative control approaches to assess energy implications of adaptive facades based on simulation using EnergyPlus

The current development of shading systems which respond to both environmental and human inputs; leads to envisioning an envelope that is multifunctional, responsive and dynamic, named as Adaptive Facades (AFs). The key aspect of any external shading system is to control solar radiation that might cause unwanted thermal and visual stresses for occupants which can lead to higher cooling loads significantly. Recent studies attempted to develop non-conventional AFs such as folding structures to fulfill the incapability of conventional systems (e.g. venetian blinds) for delivering multi-objective user demands due to their different design features. Therefore, in this paper motorized venetian blinds were initially used as conventional AFs in Energy Management System (EMS) of EnergyPlus to develop a reference case study. Furthermore, an automatic control was assigned to venetian blinds based on two indoor sensors to control slat angles on hourly basis, Daylight Glare Index (DGI) and task horizontal illuminance. Then, two new control algorithm were derived as hourly transmittance schedule (hTs) and shade factor through extended calculation methods that were used to modify the properties of a roller shade as to take into account the same adjustment of venetian blinds based on indoor sensors. Finally, a comparison was conducted based on annual energy consumption including heating and cooling loads, in which results showed that both methods have discrepancy lower than 6% and can be alternative solutions to evaluate the performance of non-conventional adaptive systems. However, there are several limitations and applicability of the suggested methodologies that were also discussed.