Chen 2012

Cold Regions Engineering 2012: Sustainable Infrastructure Development 199
in a Changing Cold Environment © ASCE 2012
Sustainable Building Design in Cold Regions: High Performance

Envelope and Façade-integrated Photovoltaic / Solar Thermal Systems at
Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by University of California, San Diego on 04/09/16. Copyright ASCE. For personal use only; all rights reserved.
High Latitudes
Chen Y., Fazio P., Athienitis A. K., & Rao J.
Center for Net-zero Building Studies
Building, Civil, and Environmental Engineering Department, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada
ABSTRACT: Northern housing entails both climatic and socio-economic challenges. Severe
weather, high energy cost and fuel dependency on external supply call for a high-performance
envelope system that can generate energy from renewable sources while functioning effectively
as a passive building enclosure. In response to the challenges, a pre-fabricated building envelope
system has been developed at Concordia University, Montreal, integrating solar-harnessing
technologies onto a structural insulated panel (SIP) envelope system manufactured by industry.
The envelope design aims to achieve low heat loss, on-site generation of electrical and thermal
energy, as well as considerable cost offsets from fast construction, transportation savings, and
energy production. This paper presents the experimental and simulation findings of the solar
envelope prototype combining several modular components such as unglazed transpired collector
(UTC), transpired glazing (TG), and photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) collectors on a SIP wall.
Different façades incorporating solar collectors have been quantitatively evaluated and compared
in respect to their suitability for cold climate.
KEY WORDS: Northern Housing, Building-integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal (BIPV/T) System,

Solar Transpired Collector, Structural Insulated Panel (SIP), Building Envelope.
1 INTRODUCTION
Canada’s North (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut) accounts for 0.3 percent of Canadian
population and over one-third of the total land area. With a population of just over 100,000
dispersed across 3.5 million square kilometers at latitude 55°N and beyond, northern housing
confronts challenges ranging from severe climatic loads including low temperature, seasonal sun,
Cold Regions Engineering 2012

harsh weather and short building season, to unique socio-economic issues such as housing
shortage, fuel/material dependency on external supply, and extreme transportation/energy cost.
Electricity price per kilowatt-hour (kWh) in some northern communities is over 10 times higher
than the Canadian average and per capita energy cost in the North is almost double the national
average (National Energy Board, 2011).
In response to the high heating loads and costly energy, northern housing design is moving
towards greater building efficiency and the harnessing of renewable energy. In 2009, Yukon
announced the SuperGreen housing standard, following the most stringent building energy
compliance nation-wide with prescriptive requirements of RSI-4.93 walls and RSI-10.56 ceilings,
as well as triple glazed windows of less than 15% wall area (Yukon Housing Corporation, 2009).
Building envelope can also serve beyond its traditional role as a passive enclosure. Emerging
development of building-integrated photovoltaic and solar thermal technologies allows designers
to integrate an active energy-capturing skin as part of the envelope system.
In fact, the high energy cost and dependency on imported fuel in northern communities offers a
more competitive payback time for well-researched renewable technologies such as the
photovoltaic (PV) and solar thermal. Compared to southern locations, the marginal price increase
per kWh produced by solar panels is quickly offset by the reduction of expensive fossil fuel and
associated transportation cost for remote locations.
2 HIGH PERFORMANCE BUILDING ENVELOPE: STRUCTURAL INSULATED PANEL
In Canada, buildings accounts for 31% of the total energy use (Natural Resource Canada, 2010).
At the same time, the communities in Northern Canada with the highest birth rate and
overcrowding percentage in the country are challenged by significant housing shortage (Statistics
Canada, 2010). As part of the essential infrastructure that has a service life span of 50 to 100
years, the building sector entails vast potential for better energy efficiency. Significant savings
from energy conservation can be achieved at very low added cost, by using high-performance
building envelope and strategically sizing the south-facing window area as well as thermal mass
to maximize passive solar gains.
In 2009, a pre-fabricated envelope system, Structural Insulated Panel (SIP), was developed for
Nunavut social housing and applied for 142 residential houses. This unique SIP system is
composed of two 16 mm oriented strand board (OSB) skins sandwiching 273 mm of rigid
expanded polystyrene (EPS), bonded by urethane glue that also acts as the vapor barrier.
Compared to conventional wood frame construction that is currently predominant in the North,
SIP serves as an all-in-one system of structure, insulation and air/weather barrier and vapor
control incorporated in a single unit and ready to install, which significantly reduces the
construction time and labor (Medina et al. 2008). This system is particularly advantageous in
Northern remote regions where building season is short and labor is expensive. With factory
quality control and ease in installation, a SIP house is extremely well-insulated and air-tight,
typically with wall RSI of 7.9 m2K/watt and blower-door tested air tightness of 0.2ACH at 50Pa.

3 BUILDING INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAIC/SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEMS FOR

HIGH LATITUDES
Though rich in natural resources such as crude oil and natural gas, the three Northern territories
rely almost completely on imported fuel from Southern locations. For instance, Nunavut uses
100% diesel-generated electricity with small, decentralized grids (National Energy Board 2011).
To offset the fossil fuel dependency and associated transportation cost in northern communities,
building-integrated solar technologies can be applied on-site to provide electricity and to heat
ventilation air in residential and commercial settings. The pre-fabricated nature of the SIP walls is
extendable to the integration of solar collectors on the facades, which also obviates the need for
exterior cladding to further reduce the installation and labor cost.
Contrary to common perception, the Canadian North has an abundant potential for solar energy.
For south-facing photovoltaic panels with latitude tilt, the yearly PV potential for Iqaluit
(Latitude 63.8°N, 1059 kWh/kW) and Fort Smith (Latitude 60°N, 1126 kWh/kW), is comparable
to southern locations like Montreal (Latitude 45°N, 1185 kWh/kW) and Quebec City (46.8°N,
1134 kWh/kW) (Natural Resource Canada, 2007).
The real challenge pertaining to solar utilization in the North is the strong seasonal pattern of
daily global radiation and its misalignment with heating loads (e.g. little sunlight in winter when
heating load is high). Therefore, the design objective of a solar-harnessing system in the North is
to maximize output in shoulder seasons, while imported fuel is still necessary for winter heating.
Due to the low incidence angle of solar radiation at high latitudes, façade integration yields better
annual results than roof integrated systems. Reflected sunlight from the snow (albedo>0.8) in
early spring and late fall further enhances the system performance, partially compensating for the
shorter sunny duration in northern locations. In this paper, only air-based collectors are discussed
to avoid encountering high risks of winter freezing as in liquid-based collectors.
3.1 Unglazed Transpired Collector and Improved Transpired Collectors
The Unglazed Transpired Collector (UTC) is essentially a perforated dark cladding with pores of
0.5%-2% opening area and an air cavity/plenum behind the cladding (Figure 1b). It is a low-cost
and highly efficient solar thermal system that is well suited for façade integration to pre-heat
ventilation air in residential and commercial buildings. At night, the air plenum also recaptures
heat loss from the building envelope and contributes to the overall energy savings.
Compared to conventional glazed solar thermal collectors (Figure 1a), the distributed air inlets
across the metal cladding help to lower the surface temperature of UTC, which lowers the surface
radiant loss and works particularly well in cold climate. Many of such UTC facades (trade name
SolarWall) have already been implemented in the far North in latitudes as high as 68°N (Inuvik)
to pre-heat building ventilation air.
However, these commercially available UTC systems commonly use corrugated dark metal
sheets perforated with distributed pores (Figure 1b) as the exterior layer. Since the absorber is the
exterior metal cladding and is inevitably heated by solar radiation, the UTC’s surface temperature
can rise by over 40 °C greater than ambient temperature on a sunny day at low heat removal rate,

contributing to significant surface losses. In addition, the transpired absorbers are particularly
prone to convective wind loss, often aggravated by the corrugated profile. For northern
applications when wind is strong (> 4m/s) year round, a flat exterior surface with lower surface
temperature would be preferable in the cold, windy regions.
Therefore, an improved UTC system is proposed with transpired glazing (TG) as the exterior
layer (Figure 1d). High-transmittance weather-resistant polycarbonate sheets are perforated to 1%
porosity and are used to create a second air plenum in front of the transpired absorber. As the
exterior layer (flat transpired glazing) remains cold during the sun-lit hours, the surface radiant
loss and exterior convective wind loss are both minimized for the UTC+TG system (1d)
compared to conventional UTC (1b) system. With the heated absorber hidden behind the flat
transpired glazing, UTC+TG (Figure 1d) is especially suitable for northern cold climate.
Figure1. Design of façade collector configurations combining UTC and transpired glazing
3.2 Photovoltaic Panel doubles as Thermal Absorber (PV/T)
Photovoltaic (PV) technology offers a reliable, on-site, complementary source of electricity in

summer and shoulder seasons at a competitive price rate. In 1995, a 3.2kWp PV system was
installed over 25m2 of façade in Iqaluit (63.8°N) and has been delivering an average of
2016±200kWh of electricity annually (Poissant et al. 2004), which represents roughly 20% of
electricity consumption by a Canadian average household. Compared to other renewable
technologies such as wind, solar panels are more suitable for building integration and typically
have no moving parts. Once installed, photovoltaic modules are practically maintenance-free, as
demonstrated by the Iqaluit PV façade with its 17 years of reliable performance to this date.
Since then, PV module prices have dropped from CAD$11.09/watt in 1999 to $3.31/watt in 2009
(Ayoub et al. 2009). At 80cents/watt in 2012, PV module price is still falling, while fossil fuel
prices have risen dramatically since 1999 and will continue to climb in the next decade. Diesel
price (excluding transportation) has increased from 54 cents/Liter in 1999 to $1.29/Liter in 2012
(NRCan, 2012). The life-cycle generation cost of diesel-generated electricity in remote
communities can reach $1.30/kWh, whereas life-cycle building-integrated photovoltaic price
ranges from 8 to 30cents/kWh (Canadian Electricity Association, 2006). Coupled with increasing
efforts to minimize emissions, the current fossil fuel dependency in Northern communities can be
diluted in an economically feasible manner using rigorous solar technologies.
As most crystalline photovoltaic panels yield 10% to 20% of electric efficiency, the rest of
absorbed solar energy is turned into waste heat. A photovoltaic/thermal system can cogenerate
valuable electricity as well as useful heat by actively drawing the heated air behind the PV. A
commercial-scale solar facade with UTC and the PV/T technology has been implemented in

Montreal (45°N) in 2009 based on an outdoor prototype studied by Athienitis et al. (2011).
Custom-sized dark-framed PV panels are integrated onto the dark corrugated transpired metal
cladding, covering 70% of the total 288 m2 area (Figure 2). In many regions of Northern Canada
where space heating is needed almost all year round, cogeneration adds incentives to building-
integrated photovoltaic/thermal (BIPV/T) systems.
Figure2. A BIPV/T demonstration project using UTC and PV/T (Athienitis et al. 2011)
4 EVALUATION OF A FAÇADE INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAIC/SOLAR THERMAL

PROTOTYPE FOR HIGH LATITUDE APPLICATIONS
4.1 Prototype Design and Testing Capacity
Façade integrated solar technologies, such as the photovoltaic and unglazed transpired collector,
have been proven to perform well in the high North. In an effort to synthesize the advantages of
similar solar collectors and experimentally evaluate their suitability to the northern climate, a
facade-integrated solar prototype is designed and constructed to accommodate twelve testing
configurations of different collectors. Each layer of the test assembly can be taken apart and
reattached easily, allowing changes in configurations as experiments move forward. All the
components of the whole test assembly are numbered and illustrated in Figure 3 below.
1. Transpired Glazing and/or Glazing

2. Photovoltaic Panels (60W) with dark frame and backing
3. Corrugated Transpired Absorber (can be rotated 90°)
4. Dark metal Absorber
5. Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) Wall (Substrate)
Figure3. BIPV/T-SIP Prototype Experimental Assembly
The prototype is designed to be square (1.5m x 1.5m) and the corrugated absorber (Figure 3,
layer 3) can be rotated 90° to create scenarios of flow-against-corrugation and flow-along-
corrugation. The transpired glazing (layer 1) is designed to be level with the top surface of the
photovoltaic panel (layer 2). The pitch (14mm) and pore diameter (1.6mm) of the transpired
glazing is carefully selected to maximize the system efficiency within practical limits, based on
the work of Leon and Kumar (2006) modelling the effects of pitch, pore size and porosity on
transpired collector performance.
Some of the test configurations using the same basic experimental prototype are illustrated in
Figure 4 below. For better focus in content, the effects of corrugation orientation (Figure 4a and
4b) and two-stage transpired collectors (Figure 4c) will not be elaborated in this paper.

Figure4. Test Configurations: 4a/4b. UTC with corrugation along flow(a) and against flow(b);
4c. Two-stage UTC with top glazing; 4d. Collector with Transpired Glazing (only);
4e/4f. UTC covered with Transpired Glazing (TG), absorber corrugation against flow(e)
and along flow(f); 4g. UTC + PV/T (PV coverage 50%); 4h. UTC+PV/T+TG
4.2 Experimental Investigation
The experimental facility for the prototype testing is a two-part laboratory consisting of a Solar
Simulator and an Environmental Chamber. Eight special metal halide (MHG) lamps are used to
produce dense multiline spectrum of rare earth metals very comparable to continuous solar
spectrum with uniformity of ±5%. Different collectors are evaluated at steady state conditions
with solar radiations of 1148 and 838 watt/m2, surface wind speed of 3.5m/s and 1m/s, as well as
five mass flow rates ranging from 50 to 150 kg/hr/m2.
Ten collector designs, equivalent to over 200 steady state conditions, are evaluated under the
solar simulator facility. Four important collector configurations are shown in Figure 5. Figure 5a
(corresponds to Figure 4b) is a typical unglazed transpired collector (UTC). Figure 5b (4e)
features an innovative improvement to the conventional UTC system by adding a layer of
transpired glazing (TG) made of high transmittance polycarbonate sheets with distributed air
inlets. As the transpired glazing exhibits lower surface temperature and a flat profile compared to
the corrugated porous metal absorber, the surface radiant loss and convective wind loss of Figure
5b is significantly lowered compared to Figure 5a.
Figure 5c (4g) incorporates two 60W photovoltaic panels covering 50% of UTC cladding. Heated
air is drawn from behind the PV panel as well as through the surface inlet on the UTC metal
cladding. The system is similar to the solar façade in Figure 2, which has a PV coverage of 70%.
Figure 5d (4h) covers the exposed UTC surface (50%) with transpired glazing as compared to
Figure 5c. For cold, windy weather in northern locations, the addition of transpired glazing
creates more a resilient and adapted façade collector compared to the conventional designs.
!"# $"#
&"# %"# !"# $"# &"# %"#

Figure5. Sample collector configurations: a. Unglazed transpired collector (UTC); b. UTC
covered by transpired glazing (UTC+TG); c. UTC with PV doubled as thermal absorber
(UTC+PV/T); d. UTC with PV panels and transpired glazing (UTC+PV/T+TG)

Figure 6 below plots the collectors’ efficiency against mass flow rate (kg/hr/m2), at high wind
(left) and low wind (right) conditions. The addition of transpired glazing over the transpired
metal absorber significantly improves the collector’s performance. For example, the efficiency of
UTC+TG (blue dots) is 13% to 18% higher than UTC (red dots) at low wind. Moreover, as
UTC+TG system is less affected by surface wind loss, its efficiency is 23% to 28% higher than
that of the conventional UTC system under high wind condition.
!%&'#"%()# $23#"%()#
*+,-./01# *4,5#./01#
Figure6. Efficiency comparisons of the four sample configurations at different mass flow rates.
If the electricity generation is not considered, the addition of PV tends to lower the thermal
efficiency of a UTC system. However, electricity is a high-grade energy and can be included into
the calculation of equivalent thermal efficiency assuming a heat pump with coefficient of
performance of 4, the overall thermal equivalent efficiency of UTC+PV/T (Figure 5c) can double
the thermal efficiency of UTC alone (Figure 5a), as shown in Figure 6 above.
The UTC+PV/T system (Figure 5c) can be further improved by covering the exposed UTC area
!"# $"#
with transpired glazing (Figure 5d). Illustrated in Figure 6, there is up to 20% efficiency rise
between the hollow orange dots (UTC+PV/T+TG) and the hollow green dots (UTC+PV/T).
In order to fully validate the collectors’ suitability for harsh northern climate (e.g. potential of
icing at pores, surface loss under extreme cold, etc.), low temperature experiments will be
conducted in the Environmental Chamber and preparations are currently in progress. Two best-
performing configurations (Figure 5b and 5d) out of ten collector designs will be integrated on
the Structural Insulated Panel facade and tested in the Environmental Chamber. The facility will
be conditioned to as low as -40°C without solar radiation, or -20°C with solar radiation of 1000
Watt/m2 evenly distributed over the collector surface (±10% uniformity).
5 SIMULATION RESULTS AND VALIDATION
5.1 Modelling and Simulations compared with Experimental Data
To evaluate these non-standard solar collectors, custom thermal network models are built in
MATLAB/Simulink platform. Heat Transfer in conventional UTC systems (Figure 5a) has been

modelled by Dymond and Kutscher (1997), assuming uniform suction rate at the surface. The
energy balance of a UTC system (Figure 7, left) can be described by the following equation:
Qs = QRO + Qwind + Qu + Qb = (hR + hwind ) ! (Tsurf " Tamb ) + MFR ! c p ! (T plm " Tamb ) + hb (Tb " Troom ) [1]
where Qs is the absorbed solar radiation (W/m2), QRO is the radiant loss to the outside (W/m2),
Qwind is the convective heat loss due to wind (W/m2), Qu is the useful heat transferred into the
building (W/m2), and Qb is the heat loss at the back of the collector (W/m2); hR is the radiant heat
transfer coefficient to outside (W/m2/K), hwind is the convective heat transfer coefficient due to
wind (W/m2/K), MFR is the mass flow rate (kg/hr/m2), cp is the specific heat capacity of air
(J/kg/K), hb is the combined heat transfer coefficient of wall insulation and interior air film
(W/m2/K), all temperatures (K) are illustrated in Figure 7.
Similarly, for an improved transpired collector with transpired glazing cover (UTC+TG, Figure
5b), the system energy balance in Figure 7 (right) can be written as:
Qs1 + Qs2 = QRO + Qwind + Qu + Qb [2]
where Qs1 and Qs2 are the absorbed solar radiation by collector surface (transpired glazing) and
by the transpired absorber (W/m2), respectively. QS1 is relatively small compared to QS2, as the
transpired glazing transmits more than 90% of solar radiation to the absorber.
Figure7. Energy Balance and Thermal Network models of two transpired collectors.
Left: UTC (Figure 5a); Right: UTC+TG (Figure 5b). Plenum size exaggerated.
The thermal efficiency of a collector is defined as the fraction of Qu over incident radiation (I).
Further details of the numerical modeling of UTC, UTC+TG, PV/T and PV/T+TG collectors
(Figure 5 a, b, c, d) can be found in Chen et al. (2012).
Steady-state simulation and experimental results comparing the efficiencies of UTC (Figure 5a),
UTC+TG (Figure 5b) and PV/T+TG (Figure 5d) are summarized in Table 1. The computer
model for UTC used an empirical approximation of UTC effectiveness according to Van Decker
et al. (2001), resulting in 5.8% maximum efficiency difference compared to experimental data at
high wind and 4.5% at low wind. The UTC+TG model employed the calibrated collector
effectiveness using experimental data, before the thermal network method is applied (Chen et al.,

2012). The modelled and experimental values of UTC+TG efficiency matched nicely within 4%
of absolute difference at low wind, and within 2% at high wind. Note that this comparison does
not consider that the T-type thermocouples used in experiments have a tolerance of ±0.5°C.
Table 1. Collector Thermal Efficiency: Steady-State Simulation compared to Experimental Data

Solar Gain 1148 watt/m2 High Wind (3.5m/s) Low Wind (0.9m/s)
FF!G&'H$ !"#$%&'($ 150 FF!G&'H$ 150 !"#$%&'($
Mass flow rate (kg/hr/m2)125 100 75 50 125 100 75 50

F1.9$;DI$JK,,0$LK3<$
!"#$)'*)$ 0.459 0.418 0.370 0.307 0.227 0.589!"#$)'*)$
UTC (Experimental) 0.561 0.512 0.447 0.350
UTC (Modelled) 0.414 0.382 0.343 0.294 0.229 0.534 0.502 0.462 0.410 0.337
UTC+TG (Experimental) 0.693 0.659 0.622 0.570 0.485 0.732 0.695 0.642 0.600 0.529
UTC+TG (Modelled) 0.673 0.651 0.622 0.578 0.503 0.692 0.671 0.640 0.593 0.520
PV/T +TG (Experimental) 0.463 0.426 0.385 0.331 0.269 0.486 0.454 0.429 0.416 0.354
PV/T +TG (Modelled) 0.448 0.436 0.396 0.360 0.300 0.495 0.485 0.459 0.432 0.379
5.2 Transient Annual Analyses based on Steady State Simulations

+,-./,,0$ +,-./,,0$
While collector efficiency generally decreases with descending mass flow rate (MFR), plenum
M:$ outlet temperature actually increases
+123$,4$567$890:$ N:$ with decreasing
+123$,4$567$890:$MFR. Depending on the end use for the
heated air, outlet temperature is useful only within a certain range, whereas too low or too high a
plenum temperature does not contribute to the overall energy generation. Using the annual
weather data of Whitehorse, Figure 8 below plots the collector outlet temperature of UTC+TG
(green), UTC (red) and !outdoor B $ ! 1 1 / ho $(black)
T1 $ ! D temperature ! T2 $ for ! D MFR + B50
D / ho of T2 $ 150 kg/hr/m2. A wide
$ ! and
#q ' & = # C D & ' #0 & # & =# & '#
'2 &%
range of possible plenum " 1 temperatures
% " % " (q '2 %depending
% " is 1present + D %the
" C C / ho on " (qMFR, collector type and
weather conditions, which offers crucial flexibility in solar collector design.
S)&$ST&$$SH&$S(&$S%&$$&$$%&$$(&$$H&$$T&$$)&$
S)&$ST&$$SH&$S(&$S%&$$&$$%&$$(&$$H&$$T&$$)&$
+32>306.-03$8ED:$
!"#$%&'()'*+ "#$%&'()'*+
O6?$$J3M$$I60$$C>0$$I67$$O-?$$O-K$$$C-P$$"3>$$QN.$$R,=$$53N$$ O6?$$J3M$$I60$$C>0$$I67$$O-?$$O-K$$$C-P$$"3>$$QN.$$R,=$$53N$$
Figure8. Plenum outlet temperature of UTC+TG (green), UTC (red); outdoor temperature (black)
Annual analyses using the hourly weather files of three Canadian Nordic cities (Iqaluit,
Whitehorse, and Fort Smith) are performed in MATLAB. Results of the three collectors (UTC,
UTC+TG, and UTC+PV/T+TG) are summarized in Table 2.
Note that not all the solar heat generated by the collectors can be used. The useful fraction of
thermal energy depends on end uses and outlet temperature of the solar heated air. For example,
when the outlet air is less than 0°C, it can be used to reduce the defrost coil load of the Heat
Recovery Ventilators (HRV). If solar heated air is above 0°C but less than 25°C, it can be
conditioned or directly supply to room to reduce the space heating load. When outlet temperature
is greater than 25°C, the heated air is sent through a heat exchanger to heat domestic hot water or
to charge a storage tank. Once the desired end uses are determined, collector types and sizes with
a MFR control strategy can be optimized to regulate outlet temperature and maximize useful heat.

on facades. A wide range of possible plenum temperatures is present depending on the MFR,
collector type and weather conditions, which offers crucial flexibility in solar collector design.
in a Changing Cold Annual analyses
Environment using the
© ASCE 2012hourly weather files of three Canadian Nordic cities
(Iqaluit, Whitehorse, and Fort Smith) are performed in MATLAB. Results of the three
collectors (UTC, UTC+TG, and UTC+PV/T+TG) are summarized in Table 2 below.
Table 2. Annual Simulation results for three Northern locations
Table 2: Annual Simulation results for three Northern locations
Weather Data and Simulation Results Iqaluit Whitehorse Fort Smith
NU (63.8°N) YT (60.7°N) NWT (60°N)
Annual average temperature -9.4°C -0.9°C -2.9°C
(Coldest Monthly temperature) (-26.8°C) (-18.7°C) (-25.4°C)
Annual average wind speed 4.4m/s 3.8m/s 3.2m/s
Total Heating-Degree days 10,017°C-day 6,915°C-day 7,916°C-day
Annual total Insolation on Façade 4.45 MJ/m2 4.13 MJ/m2 4.77 MJ/m2
Heat Collected by @150kg/hr/m2 1.9 MJ/m2 1.86 MJ/m2 2.2 MJ/m2
UTC (e.g. SolarWall) @50kg/hr/m2 1.07 MJ/m2 1.08 MJ/m2 1.3 MJ/m2
UTC+TG @50kg/hr/m2 2.46 MJ/m2 2.27 MJ/m2 2.63 MJ/m2
UTC+ PV(50%) +TG @50kg/hr/m2 0.931 MJ/m 2
1.01 MJ/m 2
1.22 MJ/m2
Annual PV potential (solar electricity) 955 kWh/kW 773 kWh/kW 940kWh/kW
Note that not all the solar heat generated by the collectors can be used. The useful
fraction of thermal energy depends on end uses and outlet temperature of the solar heated air
(e.g. <0°C used to offset HRV defrost coil load, <25°C to offset heating coil load or directly
6 CONCLUSION
supplied to room, >25°C sent through heat exchanger to heat domestic hot water or sent to
storage). Once the desired end uses are determined, collector types and sizes with MFR
This papercontrol
presents thecan
strategy design and evaluation
be optimized to regulate of building-integrated
outlet solar technologies
temperature and maximizes useful heat. suitable
for high-latitude applications. A novel envelope prototype has been developed for Northern
8 incorporating
climate, by Conclusion suitable solar collectors onto a structural insulated panel (SIP) wall.
This paper investigates the methods and algorithms used for modelling passive and
active solar harnessing technologies suitable for high-latitude applications. Passive measures
of solar
The flexible utilization
design of the can be taken
envelope at minimalallows
prototype cost byforoptimizing
detailed interlinked
experimentaldesign variables on an
evaluations
such as house insulation value, south-facing window area and thermal mass. To attain better
array of different solar collectors. Computer modelling results of several collectors are calibrated
energy efficiency or even net-zero energy buildings in Nordic climate, façade-integrated solar
by and compared
collectors to
are the experimental
suitable data. It isbuilding
for high-performance concluded thatsuch
envelope theasperformance
the SIP system.of conventional
unglazed transpired collector (UTC) as well as photovoltaic/thermal
Modelling results of several novel façade integrated solar collectors (PV/T) collector
are compared to can be
effectivelyandimproved
calibrated simply by adding
by experimental data an exterior
obtained fromlayer of transpired
a BIPV/T-SIP glazing.
prototype. Simulation
It is found that and
the performance
experimental of conventional
results confirmed collectorUTC as well as
efficiency UTC+PV/T
rise from 10%canto be effectively
28% improved
(in absolute difference)
due to the(efficiency
addition rise of 10% to 28% in absolute difference) simply by covering with exterior
of transpired glazing. The improved design successfully minimized surface
transpired glazing. The findings also entail vast design flexibility from an array of solar
radiant loss
collectors (especially UTC+TGsusceptibility
and lowered collector’s and UTC+PV/T+TG) to windthatloss, which aresuitable
are potentially particularly beneficial
for high-
features for northern
latitude applications.
applications. Depending the end use desires for the solar heated air and photovoltaic
electricity, type and size of collector and auxiliary HVAC system can be selected accordingly.
The experimental and simulation findings aim to investigate the potential of energy generation
and conservation by a full-scale solar-harnessing envelope system in cold climate. Combining
passive measures of conservation and active generation of on-site solar energy, the building
sector in Northern Canada can readily achieve considerable displacement of expensive fossil fuel
and its associated transportation cost. In the meantime, design innovations on compact envelope,
facade-integrated solar collectors and pre-fabricated assembly may also be appropriate for
housing designs in temperate climate.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support of the Natural Sciences and

Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through the Smart Net-zero Energy
Buildings Strategic Research Network.
REFERENCES
Athienitis, A.K., Bambara, J., O'neill, B. & Faille, J., 2011. A Prototype Photovoltaic/Thermal
System Integrated with Transpired Collector. Solar Energy, 85 (1), 139-153
Ayoub, J., Dignard-Bailey, L. & Poissant, Y., 2009. National Survey Report of PV power
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Cold Regions Engineering 2012: Sustainable Infrastructure Development 199

in a Changing Cold Environment © ASCE 2012

Sustainable Building Design in Cold Regions: High Performance

KEY WORDS: Northern Housing, Building-integrated Photovoltaic/Thermal (BIPV/T) System,

Cold Regions Engineering 2012

2 HIGH PERFORMANCE BUILDING ENVELOPE: STRUCTURAL INSULATED PANEL

Cold Regions Engineering 2012

3 BUILDING INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAIC/SOLAR THERMAL SYSTEMS FOR

3.1 Unglazed Transpired Collector and Improved Transpired Collectors

Cold Regions Engineering 2012

3.2 Photovoltaic Panel doubles as Thermal Absorber (PV/T)

Photovoltaic (PV) technology offers a reliable, on-site, complementary source of electricity in

Cold Regions Engineering 2012

4 EVALUATION OF A FAÇADE INTEGRATED PHOTOVOLTAIC/SOLAR THERMAL

4.1 Prototype Design and Testing Capacity

1. Transpired Glazing and/or Glazing

Figure3. BIPV/T-SIP Prototype Experimental Assembly

Cold Regions Engineering 2012

4.2 Experimental Investigation

&"# %"# !"# $"# &"# %"#

Cold Regions Engineering 2012

5 SIMULATION RESULTS AND VALIDATION

5.1 Modelling and Simulations compared with Experimental Data

Cold Regions Engineering 2012

Qs1 + Qs2 = QRO + Qwind + Qu + Qb [2]

Cold Regions Engineering 2012

Table 1. Collector Thermal Efficiency: Steady-State Simulation compared to Experimental Data

Mass flow rate (kg/hr/m2)125 100 75 50 125 100 75 50

5.2 Transient Annual Analyses based on Steady State Simulations

Cold Regions Engineering 2012

Cold Regions Engineering 2012

Canadian Electricity Association, CEA. 2006. Power Generation in Canada - A Guide.

NRCan, 2012, Energy Sources Average Retail Price, [online], www2.nrcan.gc.ca/eneene/sources/

Yukon Housing Corporation, 2009. SuperGreen Energy Efficiency [online]. www.housing.yk.ca/

Cold Regions Engineering 2012

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