Performance and Energy Savings of Resin Translucent Concrete Products
Juan Shen, Zhi Zhou
Abstract
Buildings consume large amounts of energy, and lighting and maintaining a comfortable temperature consume a substantial amount of this energy. It is of significance to dwell on creative technology that takes advantage of solar energy for light and heat supply. As a consequence, this study offered an investigation on a novel building envelope material by means of the polymethyl methacrylate resin embedded into concrete, which can provide excellent illumination from natural light and an excellent combination of shielding performance and clarity. The light transmission and thermal conductivity of resin translucent cement-based material (RTCM) were measured by the optical power method and flat plate method, respectively. The building energy consumption and daylight level were evaluated through energy and daylighting simulation with the help of Autodesk Ecotect Analysis 2011 software. The natural lighting coefficient increased by nearly 100%, and the lighting uniformity improved by nearly 50%. The operating time of the artificial lighting device was shortened from 72% to 41%. In addition, the cooling/heating load in the present test conditions could be reduced by nearly 20%. The results revealed that RTCM had excellent light transmittance and thermal conductivity. RTCM could effectively improve the indoor daylight condition and visual comfort.