Degradation of Insulating Glass Units: Thermal Performance, Measurements and Energy Impacts
Insulating glass unit (IGU) degradation has been studied extensively. However, there is limited understanding of how present durability evaluation standards relate to product lifetime. Furthermore, there is debate on how to quantify performance of installed windows over time to better understand deg...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Buildings |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/13/2/551 |
| _version_ | 1797621946639187968 |
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| author | Madison Likins-White Robert C. Tenent Zhiqiang (John) Zhai |
| author_facet | Madison Likins-White Robert C. Tenent Zhiqiang (John) Zhai |
| author_sort | Madison Likins-White |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Insulating glass unit (IGU) degradation has been studied extensively. However, there is limited understanding of how present durability evaluation standards relate to product lifetime. Furthermore, there is debate on how to quantify performance of installed windows over time to better understand degradation processes. More knowledge on these topics is required to link durability evaluation to product lifetime projections based on energy performance. Energy models provide helpful estimations of total annual building energy consumption. However, most models are based on “as installed” performance of envelope components and fail to account for performance degradation. This can lead to an underestimation of building lifetime energy consumption. A better understanding of the relationship between durability and energy performance can inform integration of degradation dynamics into energy modeling software. This will improve lifetime building energy consumption estimations as well as inform appropriate retrofit strategies and timing. This paper reviews current durability literature, various standards for window performance ratings and weathering methods, existing in situ IGU energy performance measurement techniques, and whole-building energy effects. The challenges and disparities among various studies are analyzed and discussed. The authors hope that further work in this area will lead to the development of improved in situ test methods to assess IGU degradation in the field and link this knowledge to improved energy performance modeling approaches. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:03:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a4a0b55a9e4f44408013c9c4f19738ee |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-5309 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T09:03:16Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Buildings |
| spelling | doaj.art-a4a0b55a9e4f44408013c9c4f19738ee2023-11-16T19:34:19ZengMDPI AGBuildings2075-53092023-02-0113255110.3390/buildings13020551Degradation of Insulating Glass Units: Thermal Performance, Measurements and Energy ImpactsMadison Likins-White0Robert C. Tenent1Zhiqiang (John) Zhai2Department of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, UCB 428, Boulder, CO 80309-0428, USANational Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, CO 80401, USADepartment of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, UCB 428, Boulder, CO 80309-0428, USAInsulating glass unit (IGU) degradation has been studied extensively. However, there is limited understanding of how present durability evaluation standards relate to product lifetime. Furthermore, there is debate on how to quantify performance of installed windows over time to better understand degradation processes. More knowledge on these topics is required to link durability evaluation to product lifetime projections based on energy performance. Energy models provide helpful estimations of total annual building energy consumption. However, most models are based on “as installed” performance of envelope components and fail to account for performance degradation. This can lead to an underestimation of building lifetime energy consumption. A better understanding of the relationship between durability and energy performance can inform integration of degradation dynamics into energy modeling software. This will improve lifetime building energy consumption estimations as well as inform appropriate retrofit strategies and timing. This paper reviews current durability literature, various standards for window performance ratings and weathering methods, existing in situ IGU energy performance measurement techniques, and whole-building energy effects. The challenges and disparities among various studies are analyzed and discussed. The authors hope that further work in this area will lead to the development of improved in situ test methods to assess IGU degradation in the field and link this knowledge to improved energy performance modeling approaches.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/13/2/551degradationglassthermal performancein-field measurementenergy consumption |
| spellingShingle | Madison Likins-White Robert C. Tenent Zhiqiang (John) Zhai Degradation of Insulating Glass Units: Thermal Performance, Measurements and Energy Impacts Buildings degradation glass thermal performance in-field measurement energy consumption |
| title | Degradation of Insulating Glass Units: Thermal Performance, Measurements and Energy Impacts |
| title_full | Degradation of Insulating Glass Units: Thermal Performance, Measurements and Energy Impacts |
| title_fullStr | Degradation of Insulating Glass Units: Thermal Performance, Measurements and Energy Impacts |
| title_full_unstemmed | Degradation of Insulating Glass Units: Thermal Performance, Measurements and Energy Impacts |
| title_short | Degradation of Insulating Glass Units: Thermal Performance, Measurements and Energy Impacts |
| title_sort | degradation of insulating glass units thermal performance measurements and energy impacts |
| topic | degradation glass thermal performance in-field measurement energy consumption |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/13/2/551 |
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