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ADAPTIVE BUILDING ENVELOPE Performative Water-filled ETFE Cushions

Conference Paper · June 2016

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 ADAPTIVE BUILDING ENVELOPE
Performative Water-filled ETFE Cushions
Abolfazl Ganji Kheybari
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Art and Architecture, Science and Research Branch, Islamic
Azad University, Tehran, Iran
fazel.ganji@gmail.com

Jochen Lam

Transsolar Climate Energietechnik GmbH

jlam@transsolar.com

A B S T R AC T
Designing a multi-functional building envelope as an architectural façade, environmental interface and Solar Collector is a multi-objective
exploration that should be solved through an Integrated Design Strategy. The main research question is how the thermal and optical
properties of the facade component can be improved to increase comfort, reduce energy demand as well as gain more solar energy.

This research evaluates different concepts to implement the water inside a multi-layer ETFE cushion to make a dynamic envelope
component. An air cavity in the multi-layer cushion serves as an insulation layer to control the thermal conductivity; and water can absorb
solar energy (Infrared: 780-2500 nm) intelligently.

Inspired by the human skin and the blood circulation responding to heat and cold stress, in a comprehensive approach, every multi-layer
cushion of this envelope has a great possibility of interacting dynamically between buildings elements and the environment. Regulating the
thermal (U-value and SHGC) and visual (shading fraction) properties of the components would be complimented by a controlling
pneumatic system to adjust the direction and the amount of heat flow by manipulating the shape and thickness of cavities for different
climatic conditions.

Finally, With regard to the simulation results of a typical office building in Dubai, Tehran and Stuttgart, this paper demonstrates the
efficiency of multi-layer ETFE cushion and water-filled ETFE cushion as intelligent dynamic system to provide thermal and visual comfort
as well as reduce the energy demand and harvest solar radiation.

K EYW O R D S
Dynamic, Performance, ETFE, Computational design, Biomimicry, TRNSYS

I N T R O D UC T IO N
AC TIVE F AÇADE AND SU STAINABILITY
Facade systems, as one of the most complex elements of building, are largely responsible for both the energy-performance and overall
aesthetic qualities of a building. The multi-functionality of the elements should be solved through a multi-objective exploration with an
integrated design approach. Rising the transparency of architectural envelope, as a necessity for the contemporary architecture, the energy
demand of a building is significantly increasing by the amount of heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter through windows. The
irradiation of the sun affects the energy demand, Thermal and visual comfort. Windows account for about 40% of total energy costs (U.S.
department of energy, 2016) and they are the major source of energy inefficiency in buildings.

Effective daylight utilization and smart use of passive solar gains are essential for achieving low-energy buildings with comfortable indoor
conditions. Since the high-performance fenestration systems, by using tinted and reflective or selective coatings, are not able to provide
optimal conditions due to changing outdoor conditions and indoor needs responsively, more investigations should be done to develop an

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“Intelligent” window in which the properties of the glazing can be adjusted dynamically. However, the key in realizing the potential of
such systems lies in their coordinated operation. The intelligence in the operation of building envelope is related to the level of
consciousness and responsiveness to the environment. The environment, in a general scope, is not only the external conditions that
surround a building, but also the occupant’s needs and building systems within. This fact makes it essential to have an active and live
system, responding to the uncertainties due to personalized occupant behavior and variable conditions of the outdoor and indoor.

According to the urgent need to the integration of solar energy with the building concept and its impact on the building form, the building
envelops are now becoming real "active skins" with a very important energetic potential (Krippner, 2016). The skins as the most important
structural subsystem are the interface between architecture, solar technology and structure. Hence, they are supplementary parts of the skin
and must fulfill all traditional functions, while being adapted to constructional applications and their major influence on the visual
appearance. Up to now, in many of the advanced glazing systems with adjustable transparency such as the electro-chromic materials, liquid
crystals and electrophoretic or suspended-particle devices (Baetens et al., 2010), the solar energy is not utilized, and in PV encapsulated
glazing, high initial investment doubts the availability of those systems.

B A CK GR O U N D
W ATE R FL OW GL AZ ING
The idea of using water as one of the best absorber of solar energy (Otanicar, T.P., 2009) in glazing system, has been evaluated in some
projects with different names. The pioneer research is encapsulating water flow in a double glazing window to absorb the heat gain and
reduce the electricity use in air conditioning system. This system as a transparent solar collector, can utilize absorbed heat for heating
demands and domestic hot water (Tin-tai Chow et. al., 2011). Each window is made of two layers of 6 mm (0.24 in) clear glazing, with a
10 mm (0.39 in) water filled cavity and a reflective coating applied to the inner surface to reduce the solar transmittance and IR emissivity
of the inner pane (Tin-tai Chow et. al., 2011). In winter, the water is heated by both solar radiation and indoor air. As the authors
mentioned as a problem for this system, heat transmission from the indoor is dominant when the temperature is very low. Moreover,
daylighting is completely neglected in this research. The authors mentioned three significant advantages of the system in comparison with
air sealed double-glazing:
1. Higher convective heat transfer coefficient between the water and glass pane (that makes this window a good cooling or heating
device).
2. Higher heat capacity of water, thus more heat can be absorbed and removed from the cavity. (avoid overheating of the cavity)
3. The removed heat can be utilized as a source of pre-heating.

The other research project named ”Fluid Glass” also develops the water filled glazing in which the solar transmittance of the glazing can be
adjusted by coloring the water fluid which is circulated in chambers of the glazing (Stopper, 2013). Contrary to the first research, Fluid
Glass is the addition of two separated fluid cavities with 2 mm (0.079 in) gap to a high performance triple glazing system. The usage of
inner surface as an active layer integrated into the HVAC system increased the energy saving potential of the idea. The authors claimed that
depending on the locations, certain control strategies had high potential for reducing the energy demand. They mentioned 20-30% of
heating and cooling demand reduction for Munich, 50-70% for Madrid and 50-60% for Dubai (Volker Ritter et. al., 2015).

M UL TI -L AYE R E TF E C USHIONS
ETFE cushions have been largely used by architects since the 1980s as an alternative to glass because of their similar transparency, higher
thermal insulation properties, and energy and cost-efficient assembly and production processes. (LeCuyer, 2008) ETFE Foils as a
lightweight tensile structural membrane with the density of 1.75 gr/cm³ (14.6 lb/gal) (DIN53479), have the approximately 40 N/mm² (5.8
Ksi) (DIN EN ISO 527-1) of ultimate tensile strength. Regarding high tensile strength, weather resistance, UV stability, surface quality and
transparency, ETFE is used almost exclusively for external architectural applications these days (Knippers, J., 2011 and Poirazis, H, 2010).
Recent examples such as the 2013 Enric Ruiz Geli’s Media-TIC building in Barcelona and Dolce Vita Tejo shopping-complex in Lisbon,
showed the problem of glare and overheating as a big issue for sunny and hot climates. Using smoke in cushions or the idea of North-face
cushions with high selective filters and low-E coatings applied to different foils are part of the available solutions. However, producing
smoke by combustion reaction has some doubts in terms of sustainability.

While ETFE has been researched in many avant-garde aspects as smart and responsive material1 (D Cardoso, 2007); It is often absent from

1
Such as the tectonic integration of the electrochromic ‘smart’ ETFE cushion that allows for changing opacities of the façade elements of a building in
response to human actions

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material libraries found in energy simulation tools. The absence of accurate thermal and optical properties of foils in former studies is
potentially leading to errors when calculating the energy consumption of a building employing ETFE cushions (EA Dimitriadou, 2013) and
the behavior of the double curved multi-layer ETFE cushions still must be investigated more.

W A T ER -F ILL ED M UL T I -L AY ER E T FE CU S H I ON S
The driving idea of this research is developing a dynamic shading and Thermal property component to interact with the environmental
conditions that allows controlling the solar transmittance to benefit from higher solar heat gains during the winter and to reduce solar heat
gain during the summer while supplying enough daylight inside the room. Therefore, the middle cavity in a multi-layer ETFE cushion is
using to hold the layer of water (Fig. 1). Four 0.25 mm (0.01 in) of clear ETFE foils (Nowoflon ET 6235 Z 250) with the highest
transmittance (Tsol=89.8 %, Tvis=88.6 %) are supporting the variable water fluid in middle chamber and the outer cavities with higher
pressure support the overall stability of the component against external wind loads and self-weight of the water.

Figure 1: Multi-layer ETFE cushion with water as envelope component

ETFE cushions are usually inflated at 250-400 Pa (0.036-0.058 psi) with a small pump and topped up intermittently (Robinson-Gayle
2001). In some cases for supporting the membrane structure for extra load of snow or wind, increasing the pressure up to 800 Pa (0.12 psi)
is possible. (Monticelli, C., 2013) Since the hydrostatic pressure of the water in the water bladder would make larger deformation of foils,
higher air pressure and the secondary support with tensile fibers or kind of cable net is necessary. This paper suggested some of the
possible solutions in feasibility studies section. In terms of increasing the thermal resistance, a reflective coating on the foils is suggested to
achieve higher performance. A reflective film coating on third layer works better because the solar radiation blocked due to the reflection
and absorption of layer could be got the heat in water fluid. In analogy with glass glazing systems, ETFE foil has some advantages in
several aspects:
 The energy required for its production is over ten times less per square meter of coverage than that of glass.
 ETFE cushions provide greater luminosity: the cushions allow an equal range of light frequency transmission and greater total
visible light transmission (Robinson- Gayle 2001).
 Based on the water absorption and solar transmittance of the ETFE foil within infrared, the combination of these two elements
can increase the heat gain potential of the transparent collector system and avoid overheating due to the greenhouse effect inside
the room.
 Due to use of pneumatic controlling systems, cushions are more flexible in terms of shaping different geometries as an adaptive
fluid lens based on the dynamic optical and thermal properties of component.

Consequently, this paper is focusing on the multi-layer ETFE Cushion, as a solution for transparent façade element, to make an active skin
to supply the comfortable indoor space and generate heat.

C ONCE PTUAL C ONTROL S Y STEM: WATER AS BL OO D

Blood circulation and its velocity changes during the cold and hot stresses is controlled by a feedback system in the hypothalamus; the
temperature-regulating center of the brain. When cold, the hairs are raised by small muscles to trap a layer of air near the skin goose bumps
or fluffing in birds. Decreasing the convection the trapped air as an insulator helps to keep heat in. blood is also kept away from the surface
by vasoconstriction. In hot, the blood vessels leading to the skin capillaries dilate, known as vasodilation. This allows lots of blood to flow
near the surface and heat is lost through the skin by convection and radiation. All these mechanisms are parts of a normal behavior in
warm-blooded animals to control their body temperature (M Lauster, 2009).

Inspired by the blood circulation responding to heat and cold stress, in a comprehensive approach, every multi-layer cushion of this
envelope has a great possibility of interacting dynamically to the environment. the cushion as the live responsive skin is able to imitate
birds’ fluffing in cold winter to gain heat and keep it inside the vital organs and lose more heat by radiation or convection transferring outer
surface like mammals’ behavior in hot summer. Thermal and visual properties of the components can be regulated by a controlling system

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that adjusts to the direction and the amount of heat flow, based on the variable climatic conditions. In addition to activating the glazing with
circulating water in water bladder to behave dynamically for daylighting and solar heat gaining; in order to increasing the responsivity of
the system, the building’s body is also activated as part of the hydronic system. The thermal mass in slabs, walls and foundations are
enlivened to connect thermally with occupants and ambient air and soil. Accordingly, the dynamic solar envelope in synergy with building
active systems is capable of transferring the amount of heat from the building core to the surface or vice versa. (Fig. 2).

Figure 2 : Conceptual control system: the idea of building’s “Blood Circulation”, and integrated multi-functional façade components

THE RM AL AND OPTICAL PROPE RTIE S OF W ATER AND ETFE F OIL

According to precedent studies (Wagner, W., 2002), thermal properties of ordinary water such as Molecular weight, conductivity, viscosity
and specific heat coefficient are defined for different temperatures 0 to 50 °C (32 to 122 °F). Also, thermal conductivity of ETFE is defined
as 0.24 W/m.k (1.67 Btu·in/(hr·ft2 ·°F)) (Teflon Tefzel™ products’ datasheet, 2016).

In terms pf optical properties, regarding to the Beer Lambert law, based on the α (Absorption Coefficient (cm-1)) of pure water (Pope, 1997
and Palmer, 1974) and l (thickness (cm)) the absorption and transmission of water layer is calculated for 1 to 15 cm (0.39 to 5.91 in). The
resultant optical property is figured in combined diagram (Fig. 3) to show the heat gaining potential of different layers of water, based on
the potential solar radiation on the earth surface (ASTM E-490 AM0 Standard Spectra) and the optical properties of pure water and 0.25
mm (0.01 in) of clear ETFE foil (Nowoflon ET 6235 Z 250).

Figure 3: Total solar Irradiation and the potential of solar envelope to gain heat: Based on the absorption coefficient of water with different thickness and ETFE foil transmission

4 FACADE TECTONICS INSTITUTE

Referring to the figure 3, it is noticeable that depending to the thickness of water, the light absorption of water layer in visible part of
spectrum (380–700nm) is negligible (0.07% to 11.41%) but the solar absorption (250-2500nm) is significant (30.33% to 48.18%) in
infrared part. For example all the solar radiation with the wavelengths larger than 1125nm are absorbed by 15 cm (5.91 in) of water layer,
while 5cm (1.97 in) of water layer only absorbs the solar radiation with wavelengths larger than 1230nm.

Table 1: the potential of solar envelope to gain heat and its effect on Tvis, based on the absorption coefficient of water with different thickness

Absorbed Solar Heat

Water Thickness Tvis
Energy Absorption
cm W/m2 250-2500 nm 380–700 nm
1 407.956 30.33 % 99.03 %
5 543.046 40.38 % 95.49 %
10 607.308 45.16 % 91.74 %
15 647.966 48.18 % 88.59 %
Total Solar Energy 1344.873

Regarding to different solar heat absorption and visible light transmission (Tvis) values corresponding to the thickness of water (Table 1), the
optical behavior of water layer in combination with ETFE foil makes a potentially high-performance selective layer with high solar heat
gain absorption and high visible light transmission. Regulating the thermal (U-value and SHGC) and optical (shading factor) properties of
the envelope is possible by a controlling pneumatic system. By manipulating the shape and thickness of chambers for different weather
conditions, depending on system can dynamically react to the location and the time of the day and adjust the direction and the amount of
heat flow. In addition, it is possible to control the color of the water makes increase the absorption inside the fluid and reduced the energy
transmission to the indoor space from 0.165 to 0.015 (Gstoehl, D. et al., 2011).

M E T HO D
SUMM ER AND W INTE R SC E NARIOS W ITH SIM PL IF IED C ONF IGURATIONS
Similar to any dynamic systems with active components, the controlling function is as important as the function of each component. At
some climate with high temperatures, when the solar irradiation is relatively high, unwanted interior solar heat gains can cause overheating
in airtight modern buildings. In summer scenario, according to the solar absorption potential of water bladder, by gaining solar radiation
inside water flow and allowing the visible light to transmit through the envelope, the system can effectively avoid the problem of
overheating and consequently decrease cooling and electrical loads due to supplying sufficient daylight (Fig. 4 Right). Referring to the
results of this paper, in these climates, using a reflective film or proper controlling system to add color to the water is effective to supply
the comfortable indoor space and improve the efficiency of the system. Consequently, the gained heat by active water fluid on the critical
windows can be consumed for heating space in other parts of the building (e.g. north faced window) that are not directly exposed to the
solar irradiation.

The flow of cold water in the cavity facing the interior can be operated during the hot day as radiative cooling panel to improve the thermal
comfort perception because of the impact of low temperature surface. Beside the effect of large glazing areas as heating and cooling
surface; In general, a surface area of the glazed facade closer to the temperature of other components of the building (floor, ceiling, interior
walls) also reduces the imbalance of long wave radiation in the space and raises the thermal comfort of the user (Ritter, 2015).

Using two different underground water tanks, the system performance can be improved. The heated water passing through the water
bladder during day is stored in the first tank with high conduction to the soil temperature or geothermal heat exchangers to reject the
excessive heat. Moreover, during a summer night, increasing in thermal conductivity of the system by deflating the external air cavity and
circulating the heated water to the exterior cavity makes it possible to radiate the excessive heat to cold sky. In these mechanisms chilled
water stores in the second fully isolated tank for cooling purpose for the next day (Figure 4 Left). In this paper, the Qrej kWh [kWh/a] is
defined as a representing parameter for cooling potential of the system during summer day. This is the amount of solar heat, which is
absorbed by the water bladder (as sunshade) and rejected to the earth or radiated to the cold sky overnight.

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 Figure 4: The Schematic of the basic operation of envelope components: dynamic thermal and optical properties,
Left: Summer night configuration (SN), Right: Summer day configuration (SD)

While the sufficient amount of visible light is transmitted to the space, during a winter day, collected heat can be used to support space
heating as heat source for a radiant heating slab system or to provide hot water indirectly (Fig. 5 Right). Increasing the absorbed solar
radiation, low mass flow rate within water bladder makes the outlet temperature higher; thus the higher heat gain can be stored in second
underground tank for heating during the cold night while the exterior air layer plays the role of Night Insulation (Fig. 5 Left). The
Qcollect_kWh [kWh/a] is defined as a representing parameter for heating potential of the system. This is the amount of useful solar heat
gained during winter day in water bladder for different configurations. This amount of energy is simulated based on the average
temperature of 35°C (95 °F), which can be used for heating space during wintertime.

Figure 5: The performative envelope components dynamic thermal properties:

Left: Winter night configuration (WN), Right: Winter day configuration (WD)

In these scenarios, the Mass Flow Rate is controlled by the function of water temperature. During a winter day, the outlet temperature of
circulated water raises to 35°C (95 °F) for heating purpose using hydronic active slab system and producing pre-heated water for Domestic
Hot Water. While during the summer, the cold water is circulated for cooling purpose (15°C) (59 °F) with higher mass flow rate and the
collector is just working for pre-heated Domestic Hot Water.

M ODEL ING
In this paper, some of the potentials of water filled ETFE cushion are evaluated for a south oriented window for three different climate
conditions in Dubai, Tehran and Stuttgart. The geometry of a standard office room (located in a middle story and surrounded by other
office rooms) is modeled for daylight and thermal simulation, based on the technical standard of VDI 2078:2012-03 for 2 people (17.50 m²
(188.37 ft2), 5.0 m (16.4 ft) length, 3.5 m (11.48 ft) width and 3.0 m (9.84 ft) height). The south oriented window is 3.3 m (10.83 ft) by 2.8
m (9.19 ft) with 9.24 m² (99.46 ft2) area. In this model, the U-value of 0.191 W/m²K (0.03 Btu /(hr·ft2 ·°F))is assumed for external wall
(Fig. 6).

In order to evaluating the potential of the system for different configurations through thermal simulation complex model of ETFE cushion
is simplified into parallel layers. However, for daylight simulation, double curved geometry of ETFE cushion is modeled through form-
finding procedure based on the air and hydrostatic pressure in Rhino Grasshopper with the help of RhinoMembrane and Kangaroo2. This
geometry is used later to generate the Bidirectional scattering distribution function (BSDF) matrices to take into account the effect of water
bladder geometry on light distribution.

2
A grasshopper component developed by Daniel Piker as a physics engine

6 FACADE TECTONICS INSTITUTE

 Figure 6: The geometry of a standard office room and definition of simplified glazing system main configuration with 1 cm water

L BNL W INDOW 7 .4 AND RADIANC E

The simplified models for different configurations are set up in LBNL Windows 7.4. for evaluating the thermal and optical behaviors. In
order to, the optical properties of 0.25 mm (0.01 in) of clear ETFE foils (Nowoflon ET 6235 Z 250) with 0.898 solar and 0.886 visible
lights Transmissivity is defined in Optics 6 and exported to LBNL Window as a glazing and as a Glass Radiance material with BRTDfunc
for the daylight simulation with Daysim via Honeybee. The optical properties of water are defined by assigning a dielectric material in
Radiance with Refraction Index of 1.33 (Segelstein, D., 2011). The thermal conductivity of water are also defined as some polynomial
curves based on different temperatures (0-50 °C) (32-122 °F) as a new gap gas in LBNL Window Gap library.

TRNSBSDF AND TRNSY S1 8 (DY NAM IC THERMAL S IM UL ATION)

In new coming version of TRNSYS18, it is possible to apply the BSDF data for a complex fenestration system generated by LBNL
Window and combine as different configurations of a detailed window for any dynamic thermal simulation. This new features provide one
detailed window containing all optical and thermal information of layers and gaps, which is possible to calculate the absorbed solar
radiation and temperature for each layer and gap specifically.

Assessing the potential of the different configurations of system, three base cases are modeled with the same properties but a standard
double glazing window. All the thermal properties for the external and internal walls, ceiling and floor for all the configurations and base
case model are kept the same. Window wall ratio is 90% and the window property for base case model is a double glazing window
(ID13002) with U-value of 1.1 W/m2K (0.19 Btu/(hr·ft2 ·°F)) and the G-value of 60% with 70% reduction due to motorized moveable
external shading. In figure 7, the performances of standard base case buildings in Dubai, Tehran and Stuttgart are shown.in this figure
(figure 7), the amount of annual energy demand [kWh/a] for heating, cooling and artificial light is compared with thermal comfort
representing by PPS [%] (Predicted Percentage of Satisfied).

Figure 7: Annual Energy Demand [kWh/a] and Thermal Comfort, Predicted Percentage of Satisfied [PPS %] for standard base case buildings in Dubai, Tehran and Stuttgart

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As shown in figure 8 for the comparison study, the thickness of water layer is assumed 1 cm (0.39 in). Zero configuration is a conventional
multi-layer ETFE cushion with 4 foils and 0.25mm (0.01 in) thickness and three cavities and the main configuration (configuration 1) is a
multi-layer ETFE cushion, which the middle cavity is filled with 1cm (0.39 in) of pure water. The optical properties of systems for other
four configurations (configurations 2 to 5) are adjusted by applying Reflective Coatings (HeatMirror77 and HeatMirror44 for
configurations 2 and 3), and dyed water with pigment (1% and 2% of concentration for configurations 4 and 5).

Figure 8: six different definitions of glazing system, main configuration (number 1) is a multi-layer ETFE cushion with 4 foils and 0.25mm thickness
and 3 cavities which is filled with 1cm of pure water.

TE CHNICAL C HALL ENGE S AND FE ASIBIL ITY STUD Y

At this stage, the research has been focused on computational simulation and energy saving and performance potentials to improve the
comfort. As an innovative façade system, more investigations must be done in future work to apply the proposed system as robust façade
component. In this section, paper discuses some of the solutions to overcome the technical challenges.

Since the area density of water-filled ETFE (10 Kg/m2 or 2.05 lb/ft2) for 1cm or 0.39 inwater bladder) is less than conventional façade
systems double glazing system (26.4 Kg/m2 or 5.41 lb/ft2), the load on structural members is not a problem and the large deformation of
foils due to the hydrostatic pressure of water column is the only issue in this innovative façade component. The most important mechanical
properties of ETFE foil material are their tensile strength (~ 22 Mpa or 3.19 Ksi at 10% elongation), ultimate tensile strength (~ 40 Mpa or
5.8 Ksi) and the dependency of these values to the ambient temperature. Since the ETFE begins to creep and lose strength significantly at
temperature of +70°C (158 °F) (Knippers, 2011), controlling the cavities’ temperature in a multi-layer ETFE cushion is a significant
advantage which is possible in the water-filled cushion (+30°C or 86 °F). This kind of deformation must be taken into consideration during
designing the structural details.

Supporting the hydrostatic pressure of water in lower part of cushion, higher air pressure (the maximum pressure of 2000 pa or 0.29 psi) or
the secondary support with tensile fibers or kind of cable net is necessary to avoid the foils from any plastic deformation. Supporting the
ETFE foil with high performance fiberglass and carbon fibers is part of some pioneering research projects in ITKE and ICD institutes in
Stuttgart (Doerstelmann, M. et al., 2015). According to the idea of Urban Algae Folly project for EXPO Milano 2015, another solution is
dividing the spans into smaller clear height up to 40cm (1.31 ft). Since the water bladder is enveloped with the outer air cavities and
hydrostatic pressure due to the 40 cm (1.31 ft) height of water column is about 4000 pa (0.58 psi), the resultant pressure exposed to the foil
could be kept less than 2000 pa (0.29 psi). Therefore, it is possible to carry the water inside the ETFE bladders.

DATA
DAY LIGHT SIM ULATION
According to the proper radiance materials for ETFE foil and water, daylight simulation for the simplified model for summer (1cm or 0.39
in water) and winter (10cm or 3.93 in water) configuration are set up in Honeybee based on the clear sky for 21 st June and 21st December,
Tehran. Regarding to the Illumination results (Fig. 9) for both the solstices, adding the layer of water has a negligible effect on visible light
and the required Illumination level (300 Lux) for both cases is achieved.

Moreover, the comparison study of six different configurations is complimented by annual daylight simulation in terms of providing useful
daylight in the space. The annual daylight simulation result (sDA_300 lux) for worse configuration (configuration 3 with only 30% Tvis)
was 67% for Tehran.

8 FACADE TECTONICS INSTITUTE

 Figure 9 : Daylight distribution and the impact of layer of water on 21st June and 21st December, Iran, Tehran,
Left: ETFE cushion without water, Right: ETFE cushion with water (winter: 10cm, summer: 1cm)

THE RM AL SIM ULATION

Evaluating the proposed idea of dynamic elements of facade in an active interaction with the environmental conditions, firstly, six different
complex configurations with different shading effects have been generated by LBNL Window and combined with TrnsBSDF tool as a
detailed window in TRNSYS18. Different configurations are assessed to figure out the impact of water absorption and shading effects.

Next diagrams (Figure 10-12) demonstrate the annual performance of six mentioned configurations for three different climates. Left graphs
illustrate the annual energy demand [kWh/a], QHeat_kWh with red bars representing the heating demand, QCool_kWh with blue bars
representing the cooling demand and Q_Elec representing the electricity demand for artificial light. In right graphs for Annual
Performance, the Qcollect_kWh [kWh/a] is the amount of useful solar heat gained during winter day in water bladder for different
configurations. This amount of energy shown with dark blue bars, with average temperature of 35°C (95 °F) can be used for heating space
during wintertime. Moreover, the cooling potential of the system during summer day is representing by the Qrej_kWh [kWh/a] with purple
bars. This is the amount of solar heat absorbed by the water bladder and rejected to the earth or radiated to the cold sky overnight. Thermal
comfort is also shown as green bars with Predicted Percentage of Satisfied [PPS %] parameter for Dubai, Tehran and Stuttgart. In this
graphs, the values of percentage over the bars are showing the efficiency of each configuration (useful heat gain divided by total receiving
solar radiation with the window surface).

Figure 10: Annual energy demands and annual performances of six configurations for Dubai.

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 Figure 11: Annual energy demands and annual performances of six configurations for Tehran.

Figure 12: Annual energy demands and annual performances of six configurations for Stuttgart.

C O NCL U S IO N
As shown in Annual energy demands and annual performances diagrams (Figure 10-12), the performance of each configuration is highly
dependent to the climate conditions. For example in a hot climate like Dubai, the system is only worked for cooling purpose. In this case,
performance of configurations 1 to 3 is more or less the same; but using a reflective film is reducing the cooling demand significantly.
While providing enough useful daylight for the space, configurations 4 and 5 can also reduce the cooling demand.

In terms of providing useful daylight in the space, the annual daylight simulation for the worst configuration (configuration 3, with 30%
Tvis) has been studied with sDA parameter. Spatial Daylight Autonomy (sDA) describes how much of a space receives sufficient daylight.
Specifically, for Tehran, it describes the 67% of floor area receives at least 300 lux for at least 50% of the annual occupied hours. This
performance has a great impact on reducing the electricity demand for artificial light in comparison to the base cases with automated
shadings. The results also show that the increasing of shading effect due to reflective films on third layer or adding color to water can rise
the efficiency of the façade component by gaining more heat in water during winter and avoiding risk of overheating in summer.

The full potential of the dynamic water-filled ETFE cushion and the controlling mechanism of “Building’s Blood Circulation” can only be
achieved after evaluating different configurations for each climate through dynamic simulation and find the most appropriate controlling
strategy. However, at this stage of the research none of the combined dynamic control strategies has been assessed completely to improve
the performance. The results of configuration 3 are comparing with the base cases in figure 13, for three different climates.

10 FACADE TECTONICS INSTITUTE

 Figure 13: Annual energy demands ordinary office room (base case) in comparison to water-filled ETFE cushion configuration 3
for three different climates, Dubai, Tehran and Stuttgart

In comparison to the base cases, water-filled multilayer ETFE cushion can make a significant reduction in energy demand. Annual useful
heat gain collected for configuration 3 is also noticeable. In Tehran the amount of solar heat gain with semi-transparent collector can cover
90% (Qcollect_kWh = 272.09 kWh/a (=928.4 KBTU/a), and 15% (Qcollect_kWh = 155.22 kWh/a (=529.63 KBTU/a)) of heating demand
in Stuttgart. Using Configuration 5 can improve the amount of solar heat gain up to 100% and 55% of heating demand respectively for
Tehran and Stuttgart.

Finally, the proposed façade component as a transparent collector allows some of the mentioned potentials for a south oriented window in
different climates:
1. Reduction in heating demand and harvesting solar heat (Tehran: 100% and Stuttgart: 55%)
2. Reduction in cooling demand: (Dubai: 1140, Tehran: 137 and Stuttgart: 30 kWh/a (3889.8, 467.5, 102.4 KBTU/a)
a. Decreasing SHGC by absorbing solar radiation while it is almost transparent for visible light
b. Heat Rejection during summer night by radiation to the cold sky
3. Maximizing the daylight utilization and significant reduction in electricity demand. (Dubai: 279, Tehran: 293 and Stuttgart: 128
kWh/a (952, 999.8, 436.8 KBTU/a )
4. In Addition to aesthetic advantages of using different colors for water which can control the absorption and shading effect
5 . Controlling the direct sunlight by using total internal reflection inside the water layer (work in progress)

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