Proceedings of the

International Conference on Chemical Engineering 2014

ICChE2014, 29-30 December, Dhaka, Bangladesh

EFFECT OF EXTERNAL SHADING AND WINDOW GLAZING ON

ENERGY CONSUMPTION OF BUILDINGS IN BANGLADESH
Md. Jahangir Alam*, Biplob Kumar Biswas
Department of Chemical Engineering, Jessore University of Science and Technology,
Jessore- 7408, Bangladesh

Mohammad Ariful Islam

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Khulna University of Engineering & Technology,
Khulna-9203, Bangladesh

Energy efficiency of buildings is attracting significant attention from the research community as the world is
moving towards sustainable buildings design. Energy efficient approaches are measures or ways to improve
the energy performance and energy efficiency of buildings. External shading and window glazing influence
the solar energy on a window and the conveyed energy within the room through the window. In present
study, the effect of advanced glazing and overhangs on the solar energy transmitted into or lost from the
room through the fenestration areas have been evaluated for typical residential buildings in Bangladesh
using EnergyPlus software. It was found that appropriate overhangs or side fins in the south, west and east
windows would lead to the optimal reduction of the annual energy transferred into the buildings and can
have an energetic behavior equivalent to high performance glazing. The results have been summarized to
easy selecting the best window with different glazing, overhangs and side fins based on energy evaluation.

1. INTRODUCTION
Population growth and economic progress have led
to an increase in the demand for energy. The
worldwide increase in demand for energy has put
rising pressure on identifying and implementing
ways to save energy. In global context, Buildings
account for a surprisingly high 40% of worldwide
energy consumption (Krarti, 2012). If the energy
consumed in manufacturing steel, cement,
aluminum and glass used in construction of
buildings is being considered, this consumption
would be more than 50% (www.wbcsd.org).
Energy efficient buildings is an important factor
related to the energy issue; according to Omer
(2008) a building has three parameters directly
related to energy consumption: thermal comfort
(thermal conditioning), visual comfort (lighting)
and air quality (ventilation). Energy consumption
analysis of buildings is a difficult task because it
requires considering detailed interactions among
the building, HVAC system, and surroundings
(weather) as well as obtaining mathematical or
physical models that are effective in characterizing
each of those items. The dynamic behavior of the
weather conditions and building operation, and the
presence of multiple variables, require the use of
*

Corresponding Author: Md Jahangir Alam,

E-mail: jahangirche@gmail.com

computer aid in the design and operation of high

energy performance buildings (Zhu, 2006, Catalina,
et. al., 2008).
Windows have long been used in buildings for daylighting and ventilation. Many studies have even
shown that health, comfort, and productivity are
improved
due
to
well-ventilated
indoor
environments and access to natural light. However,
windows also represent a major source of unwanted
heat gain/loss, discomfort, and condensation
problems. But in recent years, windows have
undergone a technological revolution. Highperformance, energy-efficient window and glazing
systems are now available that can dramatically cut
energy consumption and pollution sources: they
have lower heat gain/loss, less air leakage, and
warmer window surfaces that improve comfort and
minimize condensation. These high-performance
windows feature double or triple glazing
specialized transparent coatings, insulating gas
sandwiched between panes that reduce the energy
lost through windows. In addition, well-designed
shading devices features reduce heat transfer,
cooling requirements of buildings. Shading devices
can also improve user visual comfort by controlling
glare and reducing contrast ratios. This often leads

to increased satisfaction and productivity. Shading

devices offer the opportunity of differentiating one
building facade from another. This can provide
interest and human scale to an otherwise
undistinguished design (http://www.wbdg.org).
Rahman and Satyamurty (1999) investigate the
difference between the values of shading factors for
windows with overhangs calculated under
extraterrestrial and terrestrial conditions and
showed that the shading factor values evaluated
under terrestrial conditions can differ by 25%
compared to the extraterrestrial values for nonsouth facing windows shaded by over hangs.
Francis and Milorad (2006) evaluated the impact of
using switchable glazing on energy use for space
cooling. Using software EnergyPlus, he found that
application of switchable glazing would lead to a
reduction in annual cooling electricity consumption
by up to 6.6% where the actual amount depends on
existence of overhangs, orientation of building
wings, types and locations of rooms. Milorad and
Francis (2007) also evaluated the energy saving that
can be achieved by applying advanced glazing to a
typical high-rise residential building in Hong Kong
using the simulation software EnergyPlus. It was
found that application of low-E glazing would lead
to a reduction in cooling electricity use by up to
4.2%. The saving due to application of low-E
reversible glazing would be up to 1.9%; double
clear glazing up to 3.7%; and clear plus low-E
glazing up to 6.6%. The achievable saving would
depend on orientation of building wings, and type
and location of rooms.
Singh (2009) investigated the energy rating of
different window glazing available in the Indian
market. This rating is helpful in selecting the best
window for a given building and a given climate.
He developed energy rating equations for different
glazing, buildings and climates by regression
analysis. Weir (1998) suggested the embodied
energy of the four main materials used in the
construction of an inert gas filled, double-glazed
window.
In the above mentioned research papers, it can be
concluded that the energy transferred through the
window depends on many parameters such as type
of the window, overhangs and side fines and
selecting the optimum window is very difficult.
However, there is no significant information were
found in the literature about building performance
in the weather condition of Bangladesh. In present
study, in the first stage, the effects of applying
overhangs and side fins have been investigated on
the single clear glazing window, and then the
optimal condition has been obtained for Bangladesh
weather condition. At the second stage, the effect of

advanced glazing windows optimized and in the

final stage the results have been summarized to
simple selecting the best window with different
glazing, overhangs and side fins based on energy
rating.

2. Simulation Technique
The global increase in demand for energy has
generated pressure on saving energy. Consequently,
Energy efficient buildings are an important factor
related to the energy issue. Various building energy
simulation softwares are used now-a-days to
simulate building energy consumption and to design
energy efficient building such as EnergyPro,
EnergyPlus, EAB, REScheck etc. Among them
EnergyPlus is developed by US department of
Energy and it is getting popular to simulate and
design of energy efficient building.

2.1 Simulation software:

The building energy simulation program
EnergyPlus was used in present study to predict
annual energy use in the residential buildings of
Jessore district in Bangladesh. EnergyPlus (version32 8.1.0.009) is made available by the LBNL in
USA. EnergyPlus calculates thermal loads of
buildings by the heat balance method. This method
takes into account all heat balances on outdoor and
indoor surfaces and transient heat conduction
through the building. The simulation results of
EnergyPlus have been validated through numerous
analytical, comparative and empirical tests.
Although EnergyPlus is capable of simulating
heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC)
systems, the details of HVAC systems are not
modeled since the primary objective of the study
was to examine the influence of windows on
thermal loads of buildings. In EnergyPlus, the heat
transfer by radiation, convection and conduction is
calculated at each time step. The U-values are not
constant through the simulation because the
radioactive and convective heat transfer is
calculated by algorithms that take into account
parameters such as temperature difference between
the surface and the air [Energyplus engineering
document, 2006].

2.2 Description of the building:

The thermal performance of a residential one
storied building (Fig. 1) including 1 m2 windows
have been located at the center of the wall of zones
1, 2, 3, 4 (south, east, west, and, north zone
respectively) that has been evaluated by computer
simulation. All the zones have been assumed to be
maintained at the same temperature in the second
floor and the energy is transferred only with
exterior walls and windows into the zones. The

thermal properties of the wall, ceiling and floor

materials have been considered as ideal.

Hourly windows annual heat gain (or loss) has been

calculated by EnergyPlus program and they have
been declared as follow: Window Heat Gain
Energy, the total heat flow to the zone from the
glazing, frame and divider of an exterior window
when the total heat flow is positive. The total
window heat flow is the sum of the solar and
conductive gain from the window glazing. Window
Heat Loss Energy, the absolute value of the total
heat flow through an exterior window when the
total heat flow is negative.
Also, the cp (coefficient of performance) index has
been used for evaluating the shading effect and
using of advanced glazing window that it has been
determined from the following equation.
(ii)

(a) Plan of the building

In equation (ii) Ea is the total energy that it is

transferred into the building from the single clear
pane glazing window without overhangs or side
fins (reference model). Also Eb is the total energy
that it is transferred into the building from the
window (new model). In this new model the type of
window, overhang and side fin are different with
the reference one. Results have been shown in
Table 1 for all Models.
Table 1: Overhang and side fin configurations in all
direction
(b) Isometric view of the building

Overhangs
(m)

Fig. 1: Computational building

Case
Effect of four types of windows has been studied as
follow:
Single clear glazing (S.Clear)
Double low-E Opaque glazing (D.L.O)
Double low-E Clear (Argon) glazing
(D.L.C)
Double clear glazing (D.Clear)
In the present study, the effects of window shading
have been investigated for three cases:
(1) Windows without overhangs and side fins.
(2) Windows with overhangs and without side fins.
(3) Windows with overhangs and side fins.
Simultaneously the depth, the width and the
distance above the window of the overhangs and
the depth of side fins have been changed. In present
study, window energy transfer (E) has been used
for the declaration of the results and has been
determinate from the following equation (i).
(i)

1
2
3
4
5
6

Width

Depth

1.1
1.1
2
2
2
2

0.5
1
1
1
1
1

Distance
above
the
window
(m)

0.2

Side fin with

1 m width
Depth
of the
right
side
(m)

Depth
of the
left
side
(m)

The overhangs and side fins have been applied only

at single clear glazing windows. Also the cp index
for heating, cooling periods or for the year has been
calculated. Taking into consideration the formula of
the cp, it can be concluded that, increasing the cp
index, leads to a decrease of the total energy
transferred into the building from window. An
assumption was made that all zones were ideally
controlled by thermostats such that the zone
temperatures would be kept steadily at 23 0C in the
year.

3. Result and Discussion:

In this section, the cp index has been calculated for
the heating and cooling periods or for the whole
year. The results have been shown in Figs. 25 for
each direction of the windows.

For the east window (Fig. 4), the best performance

application case of overhangs is the case 4
(overhang with 2 m width, 1 m depth and 0.2 m
distance above the window and without side fins of
the window). With attention to cases 16, it can be
indicated that using of overhangs increase the
annual average cp index (from 15% up to 30%).

For the south window (Fig. 2), the best

performance application case of overhangs and side
fins is the case 6 (overhang with 2 m width, 1 m
depth without distance above the window and a
side fin in the left side of the window and 1 m2
area). With attention to cases 16, it can be
concluded that using of overhangs increase the
annual average cp index (from 19% up to 44%).
Also with increasing the cp index the energy
consumption would lead to a decrease.

Fig. 4: Results east window

Fig. 2: Results for south window

For the west window (Fig. 5), the best performance

has been obtained in the case 4 (overhang with 2 m
width, 1 m depth and 0.2 m distance above the
window and without side fins of the window). And
With attention to cases 16, it can be concluded
that using of overhangs and side fins, the cp index
has only 9-20 % change during the heating or
cooling periods.

For the north window (Fig. 3), the best

performance is obtained in the case 5 (overhang
with 2 m width, 1 m depth without distance above
the window and with a side fin in the right side of
the window and 1 m2 area). With taking into
consideration the cases 16, it can be concluded
that using overhangs increase the annual average cp
index (from 18% up to 38%).

Fig. 5: Results west window

Fig. 3: Results north window

Using of advanced glazing systems i.e., Double

low-E Opaque glazing (D.L.O), Double low-E
Clear (Argon) glazing (D.L.C), Double clear
glazing (D.Clear) window, the ef index increase for
each direction of the windows but Double low-E
Clear (Argon) glazing (D.L.C) give highest cp

index for south facing window and also save more

energy.

4. Conclusion:
The final results have been evaluated to simple
selecting the best window with different glazing,
overhangs and side fins based on energy rating of
building at Jessore in Bangladesh. With attention to
these values, following conclusion remark can be
formulated:
1. For the south windows of a single clear glazing
window with an overhang (with adding the
width) and side fin window is the best solution
for case 6. Also, it can be noticed that using of
appropriate overhang and side fin will lead to
similar performance to the advanced glazing
windows and a reduction of the cost.
2. For the north windows, using of overhangs or
side fins (the case 5 especially) useful for
heating, cooling periods. Also, it can be
concluded that using of appropriate overhang
and side fin will lead to similar performance to
the advanced glazing, but using of double lowE clear (argon) glazing window is more useful.
3. For the west windows, using of overhangs or
side fins (the case 4 especially) useful for
heating, cooling periods. Also, it can be seen
that using of appropriate overhang and without
side fin will lead to similar performance to the
advanced glazing, but using of double low-E
clear (argon) glazing window is more useful.
4. For the West windows, using of overhangs or
side fins does not a significant change in the
energy transferred through the window into the
building for heating or cooling periods.
Although, using of the double clear glazing,
Double low-E Opaque glazing and double lowE clear (argon) glazing window can lead to a
considerable energy transfer reduction.
5. Using of the most appropriate overhang or side
fin that has been established for the single clear
pane glazing is more useful for any direction of
window than the advanced glazing windows
(double clear glazing, low-E glazing).
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