The study in this article investigates 15 ventilated window typologies with different pane configurations and glazing types in climates of four European countries (United Kingdom, Denmark, France and Germany) in order to identify the optimum typology with regard to their energy balance and impact on thermal comfort. Hourly simulations of the heat balances of the windows are conducted on four days representing different typical weather conditions according to the method described in EN ISO 13790. U and g values used in the calculation method are calculated in European software tool (WIS) for the calculation of the thermal and solar properties of commercial and innovative window systems. Additionally, comfort performance is evaluated by inlet air temperature and internal surface temperature of the windows calculated by WIS software.The results of the study show the energy and comfort performance of different ventilated window typologies and provide optimally ventilated window typologies for climates of these four European climates. The typologies with solar control or Low-emissivity (Low-e) coatings and typologies with double glazing on the outside have better performance in terms of either minimizing the energy consumption or optimizing the thermal comfort. The provided optimal window typologies can be used in residential and commercial buildings for both new constructions and renovations.

The use of solar shading in future low energy office buildings is essential for minimizing energy consumption for building services, while maintaining thermal conditions. Implementing solar shading technologies in energy calculations and thermal building simulation programs is essential in order to demonstrate the effect of adaptive solar shading. Much literature covers the detailed description of solar shading in correlation with the glazing system. However in order to document the benefits of the shading technology, the description of the shading device in the thermal building simulation software must be described at a reasonably accurate level, related to the specific solar shading device. This research presents different approaches for modeling solar shading devices, demonstrating the level of accuracy in relation to full-scale measurements conducted at Aalborg University. Modeling of solar shading bridges the gap between increased complexity of solar shading technologies and the use of these technologies in thermal building simulation software.