• Energy Research

This paper discusses the specific design strategy of a novel compact unglazed Solar Thermal Facade (STF) for building performance research in architectural practice. It identifies the basic role of such STF in the building performance simulation and analysis. A dedicated design strategy based on the BIM (building information modelling) concept for application of the proposed STF is then developed in details. This research work clarifies the necessary steps in ensuring that the environmental/economic factors and energy-efficiency strategies of the STF are integrated with the building design and analysis process at the early stage.

Solar concepts show potentially an improved cost-performance (energy) ratio when applied as the integrated parts of building renovations. This paper reported a compact solar thermal facade (STF) module with the internally extruded flow channel suiting for solar renovation concept in buildings. A few of impact factors were considered for the parametric study in order to optimize the STF's configuration for various applications through the validated simulation model. The overall research results are expected to be useful for further improvement in the thermal performance of solar renovation measures.

Efficient Air Conditioning (A/C) system is the key to reducing energy consumption in building operation. In order to decrease the energy consumption in an A/C system, a method to calculate the optimal tube row number of a direct expansion (DX) cooling coil for minimizing the entropy generation in the DX cooling which functioned as evaporator in the A/C system was developed. The optimal tube row numbers were determined based on the entropy generation minimization (EGM) approach. Parametric studies were conducted to demonstrate the application of the analytical calculation method. Optimal tube row number for different air mass flow rates, inlet air temperatures and sensible cooling loads were investigated. It was found that the optimal tube row number of a DX cooling coil was in the range of 5 - 9 under normal operating conditions. The optimal tube row number was less when the mass flow rate and inlet air temperature were increased. The tube row number increased when the sensible cooling load was increased. The exergy loss when using a non-optimal and optimal tube row numbers was compared to show the advantage of using the optimal tube row number. The decrease of exery loss ranged from around 24% to 70%. Therefore the new analytical method developed in this paper offers a good practice guide for the design of DX cooling coils for energy conservation.

AbstractThis research aims to develop an initiative modular unglazed Solar Thermal Facade (STF) concept initially for hot water generation to facilitate the integration of solar energy with buildings. The new STF concept is simple structure, low cost, and aesthetically appealing with easy installation but is expected to achieve the equivalent thermal efficiency as the conventional STFs. It delivered alternative design in terms of material, colour, texture, shape, size, architectural design, installation method, array connection, hypothetical system application, and solar coverage. Two common design variants i.e. (a) the STF cladding system and (b) the prefabricated STF wall system were described respectively for existing and new low-rise building typologies. Interaction of inclination, orientation, and insolation were discussed for the optimum STF position on the building. Four currently available methods for installation of such STF with buildings were summarized and three typical array connection methods were identified. The decentralized connection was recommended for different types of STF hot water systems. It is customary to design for a solar coverage of 50 to 60 percent for water heating in detached houses; in apartment buildings 30 to 40 percent are more commonly assumed. The concept design in this paper hereby illustrates the precedence for the hypothetical function by the creation of new ideas and also forms up the physical structure or operating principle for the investigations in near future.

As the urban populations increase we have to think more deeply about how to make cities less stressful and more creative for people to live in. Liveability and quality of life are key factors while designing and managing energy, water, pollution, and waste systems which are sustainable for the long term. The rapidly developing digital technologies can help to enable these aims to be achieved. New approaches are proposed with recommendations for achieving these goals. As cities grow and change, digital technologies will be at the heart of improvement. This paper considers how observed trends will have implications on the digital cities of the future and how digital technologies will empower citizens and enable their cities to become intelligent, livable, and sustainable.

AbstractThis paper provides a feasibility study of a new solar thermal façade (STF) concept for building integration from both technical and economic aspects in Shanghai area of China. The whole set of technical evaluation and economic analysis was investigated through simulation of a reference DOE residential building model in IES-VE software and a dedicated dynamic business model consisting of several critical financial indexes. In order to figure out the cost effectiveness of the STF concept, research work consisted of: (1) exploring the overall feasibility, i.e. energy load, energy savings, operational cost and environmental benefits, and (2) investigating the financial outputs for investment decisions within three different purchase methods. This paper presents a multidisciplinary research method that is expected to be beneficial and supportive for the strategic decision at the early design stage and it also offers a different angle to assess the economic performance of the STF application.

Abstract The fully building integrated Solar Thermal Facade (STF) systems can become potential solutions for aesthetics architectural design, as well as for the enhancement of energy efficiency and reduction of operational cost in the contemporary built environment. As a result, this article introduces a novel compact STF with internally extruded pin–fin flow channel that is particularly suitable for the building integration. A dedicated simulation model was developed on basis of the heat transfer and the flow mechanics. A prototype of this STF was fabricated and then it was tested under a series of controlled environmental conditions. The experimental validation illustrated a good agreement with the simulation results, indicating the established model was able to predict the STF’s thermal performance at a reasonable accuracy (i.e. mean deviation of less than 5.46%). The impacts of several operational parameters, i.e. equivalent solar radiation, air temperature, air velocity, water mass flow rate and inlet water temperature, on the STF thermal performance were then discussed respectively. Given the baseline testing condition, the collector efficiency factor F′ is almost 0.9930, leading to a relatively high nominal thermal efficiency at about 63.21%, which demonstrates such STF, with simpler structure, lower cost and higher feasibility in architectural design, can achieve an equivalent or better thermal performance than recent bionic STF or the conventional ones. It is also concluded that the thermal efficiency varies proportionally with solar radiation, air temperature, and mass flow rate of water, but oppositely to air velocity and inlet water temperature. A sharp decreasing trend of this STF’s thermal efficiency against the (Tin − Ta)/I was observed under the given operational conditions, which indicates current STF design is only suitable for pool heating, domestic hot water and radiant space heating in areas/climates with warm ambient air temperature and sufficient solar radiation. The overall research results are beneficial for further design, optimization and application of such STF in various solar driven systems, including the provision of hot water, space heating/cooling, increased ventilation, or even electricity in buildings. Such STF technology has the potential to boost the building energy efficiency and literally turn the envelope into an independent energy plant, creating the possibility of solar-thermal technologies deployment in high-rise buildings.