Integrated energy, daylighting, comfort and environmental performance analysis of window systems in patient rooms
Nazanin Eisazadeh, Frank De Troyer, Karen Allacker
Abstract
This study investigates the influence of window system configurations on the energy use/cost, access to daylight and view, visual comfort and environmental performance in a one-bed hospital patient room located in a temperate climate. The methodology combines dynamic energy simulations, visual comfort and daylight analysis in a life cycle assessment study of window systems, covering a wide range of environmental indicators. In this study, multi-criteria evaluation approach is used to analyse the different design alternatives. A graphical optimization method was elaborated to filter the solutions and select the most appropriate window design based on project objectives and architectural preferences. The results show that glazing with ‘0.30 < g-values≤0.50’ and ‘0.50 < Tvis < 0.75’ have lower energy use and/or cost, lower environmental impacts while maintaining sufficient daylight levels (sDA > 55%) and showing higher quality for visual comfort. These type of glazing allows for using bigger windows which leads to a higher percentage of the outside view.