The effect of different glazing apertures on the thermal performance of Maltese buildings

Abstract

The aim of this work was 10 determine the effect of using different types of glazing on different orientations with different glazing to wall ratios as well as shading on the energy performance rating of buildings in Malta, using modelling with DesignBuilder EnergyPlus software for typical Maltese building models. All options have also been evaluated for their economic feasibility . A total of 864 simulations have been carried out. Results showed that the cooling load is by far larger than the heating and lighting loads. While single glazing has resulted in the worst total energy consumption, the addition of shading improves its performance drastically for most cases. The use of low U-value glazing types did not produce significant improvements, because the primary heat transfer was due to solar gains rather than internal heat losses by conduction or convection. A typical penthouse model showed that elongated building typologies have in general high total energy consumption and that glazing is not a primary factor in reducing this. It was concluded that for walls with up to 60% of glazed area, the use of single glazing with shading gives better thermal benefits than double-glazing, while the limit for all intermediate floor comer office is that of 40%.