http://ashrae-

cfl.org/2010/03/understanding-iplvnplv/
Integrate windows to achieve energy
performance
Here are the top 5 myths about the building faade and its
impact on operations.

Learning objectives

1. Understand the use of windows in nonresidential buildings.

2. Learn how to integrate the faade with mechanical and electrical

systems.

3. Learn the 5 myths about faade and energy performance.

True or False? Architectural glass is a necessary evil.

False. Glass is a fundamental element, often the most recognizable feature to

an architectural design, and is the primary means with which the building
creates a human connection to the outdoor environment. With the proper
application and the right supporting building systems that leverage faade
opportunities, glass faades can be a net energy benefit to just about any
project.

There are great misconceptions among building design and construction

professionals in regard to the use of fenestration. Some are due to the
extrapolation of one climate zone upon another or one building type upon
another, but many stem from the understanding of the residential
environment. For example, although it is generally true that one of the best
things a homeowner can do is add insulation to his attic, increasing insulation
levels on the roof of a commercial building isnt nearly as impactful. In
contrast, no one would build a single-family home without operable windows,
and yet rarely do designers even consider them for a commercial space.

Often, this misapplication of knowledge impedes the designers ability to think

beyond the traditional to what is truly energy efficient in each climate and for
each buildings individual set of circumstances. No longer are building faades
merely energy losers that the building mechanical and electrical systems must
counteract.

Todays commercial building faades provide the first opportunity for the
building to capitalize on the natural environment and minimize thermal and
lighting loads. Though glass will always impact the HVAC performance, a
faade that is well integrated into the architecture and building systems can
have a net positive impact on the total energy performance and is the first
step to achieving what is considered a high-performance building.

5 myths about faade and energy performance

1. The faade has the single biggest impact on the energy expenditure of
a building.

From a thermal load perspective, buildings can be identified by one of three

categories: external-load, internal-load, or ventilation-load dominated. The
external-load dominated building is typified by a residential home or
multifamily housing unit. In a building of this type, the thermal energy flowing
through the building envelope drives the total annual energy consumption; as
much as three-quarters of the total can be directly attributed to counteracting
the heat gains and losses from the outside. Energy codes and standards such
as ASHRAE 90.1, IECC, and ASHRAE 189.1, not to mention many other state
energy codes, have acknowledged the increased importance of the envelope
by requiring increased levels of energy performance for the faades of hotels,
hospital patient rooms, and residential projects.

In contrast, most of the load in the internal-load dominated commercial office

building comes from within, that is, the computers, lighting, equipment, and
occupants. The rough energy use characterization for a typical commercial
facility includes one-third lighting, one-third plug load, and one-third HVAC
systems (made up of the effect of the envelope, lighting, plug load, occupants,
and ventilation). The envelope is typically responsible for no more than a third
of the HVAC energy expenditure and thus has a small impact on the buildings
annual energy use of just 5% to 15%. It should be noted that even though the
envelope plays a considerably lesser role in the annual energy consumption, it
often remains a significant portion of the peak cooling and heating design
load. Interestingly, under temperate outdoor conditions of 55 to 70 F, internal
investigations by the authors have shown a typical office building often
consumes less energy with reduced levels of insulation.
Ventilation-load dominated buildings are ones where air change rates and
indoor air quality (IAQ) are paramount, for example, labs and hospitals. Airflow
rates are dictated by codes and standards like ASHRAE 170 for hospitals and
a medley of guidelines from OSHA, NFPA, and NIH for labs. Each requires
minimum total flow rates as well as minimum outside airflow rates. Typically,
heat gains and losses through the faade are relatively small compared with
the energy needed to heat and cool a buildings high airflow rates; thus the
faade plays an even less significant role.

While a focus on the building envelope design is important, the idea that the
greatest energy use is due to the faade is typically false. Designers must
understand both the climate surrounding the building and the dominant load of
the building type, noting that many buildings comprise all three categories, for
example: hospital patient rooms (external), offices (internal), and operating
rooms (high ventilation rates). So, it is important to target energy consumed
by other building systems while still seeking opportunities to limit the negative
impact of faade performance.

2. Low U-factor and SHGC values and high VLT are always better.

Its often said that a higher performing glass simply translates to a lower solar
heat gain coefficient (SHGC) and U-factor. Realistically, the optimum glazing
selection involves tuning the U-factor, SHGC, and visible light transmittance
(VLT) to the purpose of the window, the building, or space type and its
particular orientation.

Windows have two primary functions in most commercial buildings: they

provide a view that creates a connection between the occupant and the
outdoor environment, and they provide daylight that displaces electric lighting
and reinforces the connection to the environment. Closely tied to these
functions are solar gains and heat losses that must be addressed by a
buildings HVAC system. Lower SHGCs reduce solar gains throughout the
year, effectively increasing the need for heating and decreasing the need for
cooling. Lower U-values similarly reduce heat transfer throughout the year,
reducing the heating and cooling at the extreme conditions, but often
increasing cooling during temperate conditions. Every project has its own
unique optimum case.

Importantly, how the glass is being used must also be evaluated. While the
SHGC and U-value are usually the performance metrics to be optimized for
glass providing views, they are not typically the driving metric for a daylighting
aperture. Rather, a high VLT and light-to-solar gain (LSG) ratio are typically
more important for these applications.

One interesting element to investigate in optimizing glass performance is the

sometimes divergent relationship between annual energy consumption and
peak design loads; annual energy reductions can sometimes be associated
with peak load increases. This occurs because the peak load is associated
with sizing the equipment that maintains thermal comfort inside the space
during the worst condition, i.e. how large is the chiller or boiler and how much
airflow is required. In contrast, the annual energy performance accounts for
the ongoing operational efficiencies of all building systems over the entire
year. Therefore, careful attention to envelope performance trade-offs is crucial
to balancing peak load sizing with typical operating load performance for an
overall optimal solution.

For example, a patient room has a minimum air change rate required to
maintain acceptable indoor air quality (IAQ) levels that generally provides
more airflow than is needed in some circumstances to meet internal and
external loads. As a result, the air is usually reheated to avoid overcooling the
space. In this instance, a higher SHGC, with its associated additional solar
heat gain, can often help limit the reheat required by the HVAC system,
subsequently reducing the annual energy usage for the space. In essence,
whenever the space is in full sun and the external load requires airflows
greater than the minimum required by the code, there is an energy penalty,
but whenever the space has a load that allows airflows below that of the code,
it is an energy benefitit is essentially having some passive solar heat in the
patient room. There is little doubt that the higher SHGC will, however, require
more peak cooling capacity.

Finally, the VLT should always be considered for occupant comfort. It should
never be assumed that the highest VLT is the best for occupants. A tuned
fenestration system with glazing appropriately selected based on the optimum
SHGC, U-factor, and VLT will rarely be composed of the minimalist option.

3. Unwanted solar gains are most troublesome on the south side.

Most owners and architects still think of a buildings south orientation as being
the worst side for a glazed faade in terms of solar gain, but in actuality the
east and west sides are typically far worse due to a wider solar angle range
and the challenges in controlling solar gain. Though greenhouses and
solariums should in fact be located on the south side, once the particulars of
the solar gains are accounted for, it becomes clear how minimally impactful
the solar gains on the south side actually are. A simple calculation would
indicate that on an annual basis the south faade typically receives slightly
more solar energy than the east or west faades. As your latitude increases,
more solar energy will land on the south face, while as the latitude decreases,
more solar energy will land on the east and west. This is only half the story.

The true comparison needs to begin by not only looking at the amount of
incident solar energy, but when and at what angle it arrives. A similar
comparison of solar energy during only the summer months shows that the
east and west orientations of a commercial building could have roughly double
the energy landing on those surfaces than on a southern exposure. The latest
versions of ASHRAE Standards 90.1-2010 and 189.1-2011 acknowledge this
and now require that the total area of glass on the east and west sides each
be less than that on the southsimple for a rectangular building with its long
face oriented south, but significantly more difficult for the same building
rotated 90 deg. This is intended to specifically limit the amount of glass on
these east/west faades in order to target solar gains that are the most difficult
to control.
Additionally, when focusing on just the summer season, the sun is high in the
sky throughout the day, which makes exterior solar shading elements
extremely effective on the south side. For example, an 18-in. overhang placed
on a 5-ft-tall window would block nearly 70% of the solar energy over the
course of the summer at a mid-North American latitude of 40 deg. Due to the
effective lower solar angles located on the east and west orientations, the
same overhang would block less than 30% of the solar energy making it far
less effective for the identical projection.

Understanding the solar radiation on a rectilinear project with no neighbors is

relatively simple, though we rarely are allowed this luxury. Most projects will
require the use of a solar radiation or building simulation design tool to help
identify the areas of problematic solar radiation and areas of potential solar
harvesting. It is this tool that will identify any given projects most troublesome
spots and identify the most effective solar gain control strategies.

4. Optimum daylighting requires maximum amounts of glass.

It is a common strategy to justify more glass in a building with the intent to

maximize daylight. The more the glass, the better the daylightingright?
Wrong. Instead, quality daylighting is about creating the proper balance of
illuminance and luminance within the lit environment.

It is true that displacing

electric lighting with the incorporation of a quality daylighting design provides
a unique opportunity and can be a faades single greatest impact on a
buildings annual energy use. Remember that electric lighting is typically
around one-third of the total energy consumed in a building, and a quality
daylighting system can reduce that by up to 75% for areas where daylight-
responsive lighting controls are implemented. This is roughly equivalent to a
20% to 25% reduction in the total building energy due to the glass and the
required integration of building systems (lighting and HVAC).

While this is the simple opportunity, realizing this energy savings is a much
more challenging prospect. A proper daylighting design must first realize that
direct solar penetration and visual glare is the Achilles heel to a comfortable
visual environment. Some form of glare control must be provided to occupants
under certain circumstances. As such, the most typical side-lighting daylight
strategy divides the window into a continuous daylight portion above the 7-ft
level and vision portion below. The occupants then have full control over the
vision area, but the daylight aperture above remains open and unobstructed.
As a result, lots of glass does not guarantee an improvement in effective
daylighting. In fact, added glass to the vision portion does little to increase the
reliable daylight, while adding glass to the daylight aperture without also
increasing the associated daylighting design elements (light shelves, daylight
reflecting devices, etc.) will often provide too much daylight.

5. Operable windows negatively impact energy and should never be

used.

While natural ventilation may not always be appropriate, it should always be

considered. Natural ventilation can be a passive solution supporting an active
HVAC system that still provides heating/cooling in a mixed mode capacity
where windows operate according to controls, either seasonally or daily.

In addition to the benefits that include an expanded comfort range and

improved satisfaction for occupants, natural ventilation can also promote
passive survivabilitythe ability for a building to continue to function in some
capacity without power. A building with operable windows and a good
daylighting design can still maintain its occupancy and business operations
during an outage, regardless of the buildings climate and geography.

When using operable windows, a variety of practical control strategies can be

implemented. For one, the BAS controls can be set to use natural ventilation
by signaling the HVAC system to react to whether the windows are open or
closed. Practical strategies may include window interlocks or a red light/green
light mechanism that alerts occupants to open or close their windows.

At the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC)s Santa Monica

headquarters, Syska Hennessy Group designed a mixed-mode system relying
on occupant-controlled natural ventilation as the primary means of
conditioning for the facility. This design included manually operable windows
with automatic interlocks to the HVAC system, as well as CO2 sensors to
signal users when the windows should be opened (or opened wider). When
choosing potential control strategies, a frank discussion among designers,
builders, operators, and occupants of the pros and cons of each is crucial to
the systems success.

While a number of considerations need to be a part of the mechanical design

when specifying operable windows, as long as they are part of the HVAC
solution from day one, optimal operational efficiencies can still be met. Issues
of maintenance, security, and weather infiltration can easily be overcome
when designing operable windows into a commercial building. These
challenges, as well as climate, should be considered when specifying the
window type.

A holistic view

For many years, design professionals have considered the building faade as
the first level of defense against the outdoor environment. To achieve the
aggressive energy consumption goals increasingly mandated within the
architecture, engineering, and construction industry, this mind-set must be
changed. Instead, the faade in general, and glass in particular, need to be
viewed as the first opportunity to harvest energy from the outdoor environment
and provide passive lighting and conditioning through daylighting, passive
solar heating, and natural ventilation. The associated heat gains and losses
then need to be minimized through optimum glazing selection, shading
elements, and orientation. Each faade is unique to its given project and
should be considered as its own building system that must be integrated with
the HVAC, lighting, and other building systems.

Understanding that current energy codes and standards dictate blanket

performance criteria as the minimum allowable thresholds, todays design
professionals are challenged to steer clear of using ASHRAE standards as a
design goal. Rather, they need to identify codes and standards as a starting
point for the high-performance building to be optimized. Tomorrows designs
cannot simply incorporate better components than a prescriptive building
does; they will have to be designed with completely integrated systems. The
code must be a first step to engaging the other building team members in a
discussion about managing glare, specifying the right windows, and achieving
the best performing faade with the right performance criteria, at the right
orientation, with realistic solar expectations.

Robert Bolin is a senior vice president and national director of high-

performance solutions for Syska Hennessy Group, based in the Chicago
office. Kristopher Baker is an associate partner and building performance
modeling and design consultant for Syska Hennessy Group, based in Denver.