Influence of Sun Shading Devices on Energy Efficiency, Thermal Comfort and Lighting Comfort in a Warm Semi-Arid Dry Mediterranean Climate

The dry Mediterranean climate (BShs) is the European region with the highest number of hours of sunshine per year. The high annual solar radiation makes sun shading devices necessary to comply with current energy efficiency standards. However, these standards do not sufficiently consider their effec...

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Main Authors: Carlos Pérez-Carramiñana, Ángel Benigno González-Avilés, Nuria Castilla, Antonio Galiano-Garrigós
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2024-02-01
Series:Buildings
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/14/2/556
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author Carlos Pérez-Carramiñana
Ángel Benigno González-Avilés
Nuria Castilla
Antonio Galiano-Garrigós
author_facet Carlos Pérez-Carramiñana
Ángel Benigno González-Avilés
Nuria Castilla
Antonio Galiano-Garrigós
author_sort Carlos Pérez-Carramiñana
collection DOAJ
description The dry Mediterranean climate (BShs) is the European region with the highest number of hours of sunshine per year. The high annual solar radiation makes sun shading devices necessary to comply with current energy efficiency standards. However, these standards do not sufficiently consider their effect on the indoor lighting comfort of buildings. The objective is to qualitatively and quantitatively determine how movable sun shading devices jointly influence the energy efficiency, thermal comfort and lighting comfort of buildings in BShs climate. The scientific novelty of the work consists of demonstrating the limitations of the sun shading systems commonly used in southeastern Spain and determining the optimal technical solution in this climate to simultaneously improve thermal and lighting comfort. This research comparatively studies the influence of various movable sun shading systems on the daylighting and thermal performance of an educational building. This study conducted on-site measurements, user surveys and computer simulations to study how to improve the thermal and lighting performances of the building. This work demonstrates that interior solar shading provides little improvement in thermal comfort and reduces the cooling demand by only 25%. External movable sun shading improves thermal comfort and reduces the cooling demand by more than 60%, but only adjustable blinds or awnings achieve adequate and homogeneous illuminance values as they diffuse daylight. The paper concludes that energy efficiency standards should be modified to ensure adequate lighting comfort in buildings.
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spelling doaj.art-89264f76bf2e4a44954b7c7fc74de3cf2024-02-23T15:10:34ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092024-02-0114255610.3390/buildings14020556Influence of Sun Shading Devices on Energy Efficiency, Thermal Comfort and Lighting Comfort in a Warm Semi-Arid Dry Mediterranean ClimateCarlos Pérez-Carramiñana0Ángel Benigno González-Avilés1Nuria Castilla2Antonio Galiano-Garrigós3Departamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Alicante, 03690 Alicante, SpainDepartamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Alicante, 03690 Alicante, SpainCentro de Investigación de Tecnología de la Edificación (CITE), Universitat Politècnica de València, Camino de Vera, s/n, 46022 Valencia, SpainDepartamento de Construcciones Arquitectónicas, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Alicante, 03690 Alicante, SpainThe dry Mediterranean climate (BShs) is the European region with the highest number of hours of sunshine per year. The high annual solar radiation makes sun shading devices necessary to comply with current energy efficiency standards. However, these standards do not sufficiently consider their effect on the indoor lighting comfort of buildings. The objective is to qualitatively and quantitatively determine how movable sun shading devices jointly influence the energy efficiency, thermal comfort and lighting comfort of buildings in BShs climate. The scientific novelty of the work consists of demonstrating the limitations of the sun shading systems commonly used in southeastern Spain and determining the optimal technical solution in this climate to simultaneously improve thermal and lighting comfort. This research comparatively studies the influence of various movable sun shading systems on the daylighting and thermal performance of an educational building. This study conducted on-site measurements, user surveys and computer simulations to study how to improve the thermal and lighting performances of the building. This work demonstrates that interior solar shading provides little improvement in thermal comfort and reduces the cooling demand by only 25%. External movable sun shading improves thermal comfort and reduces the cooling demand by more than 60%, but only adjustable blinds or awnings achieve adequate and homogeneous illuminance values as they diffuse daylight. The paper concludes that energy efficiency standards should be modified to ensure adequate lighting comfort in buildings.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/14/2/556sun shading devicesenergy efficiencythermal comfortindoor lighting comfortwarm semi-arid dry Mediterranean climate
spellingShingle Carlos Pérez-Carramiñana
Ángel Benigno González-Avilés
Nuria Castilla
Antonio Galiano-Garrigós
Influence of Sun Shading Devices on Energy Efficiency, Thermal Comfort and Lighting Comfort in a Warm Semi-Arid Dry Mediterranean Climate
Buildings
sun shading devices
energy efficiency
thermal comfort
indoor lighting comfort
warm semi-arid dry Mediterranean climate
title Influence of Sun Shading Devices on Energy Efficiency, Thermal Comfort and Lighting Comfort in a Warm Semi-Arid Dry Mediterranean Climate
title_full Influence of Sun Shading Devices on Energy Efficiency, Thermal Comfort and Lighting Comfort in a Warm Semi-Arid Dry Mediterranean Climate
title_fullStr Influence of Sun Shading Devices on Energy Efficiency, Thermal Comfort and Lighting Comfort in a Warm Semi-Arid Dry Mediterranean Climate
title_full_unstemmed Influence of Sun Shading Devices on Energy Efficiency, Thermal Comfort and Lighting Comfort in a Warm Semi-Arid Dry Mediterranean Climate
title_short Influence of Sun Shading Devices on Energy Efficiency, Thermal Comfort and Lighting Comfort in a Warm Semi-Arid Dry Mediterranean Climate
title_sort influence of sun shading devices on energy efficiency thermal comfort and lighting comfort in a warm semi arid dry mediterranean climate
topic sun shading devices
energy efficiency
thermal comfort
indoor lighting comfort
warm semi-arid dry Mediterranean climate
url https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/14/2/556
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AT nuriacastilla influenceofsunshadingdevicesonenergyefficiencythermalcomfortandlightingcomfortinawarmsemiariddrymediterraneanclimate
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