Design considerations for architectural glazing, with focus on public buildings’ energy demand under Hungarian and similar climate

The aim of this paper is to introduce guidelines as aid for early stage architectural design of public and office buildings with large glazed surfaces in connection with the impact of some solutions on energy demand of the building. Relation between key parameters of architectural glazing (thermal transmission, solar heat gain coefficient and light transmission) has been analysed first using properties of 850 realistic builds of different glazing products recorded in the first stage of the research. Nine typical glazing categories have been specified by realistic selected triples of these parameters for energy simulation on a fictitious but typical office building. A series of energy simulations have then been run with Energy Plus using different glazing types, fenestration rates, fixed and moveable (controlled) external shadings, night ventilation rates and internal heat storage capacity in order to determine their effect on energy demand under Hungarian and similar climate conditions. Annual specific heating, cooling and lighting energy demand have been determined and studied. The simulation was made independent from choice of mechanical system (HVAC) and kind of energy sources in order to clearly analyse the effect of certain architectural tools on energy demand of internal spaces.