The Optimum Window-to-Wall Ratio in Office Buildings for Hot‒Humid, Hot‒Dry, and Cold Climates in Iran
1
Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Shiraz University, Shiraz 718773-35, Iran
2
School of Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz 7196481334, Iran
3
Chair of Building Technology and Climate Responsive Design, Technical University of Munich, 80333 Munich, Germany
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Environments 2019, 6(4), 45; https://doi.org/10.3390/environments6040045
Received: 2 February 2019 / Revised: 6 April 2019 / Accepted: 8 April 2019 / Published: 16 April 2019
Abstract
About half of the energy loss in buildings is wasted through windows. Determining the optimum window-to-wall ratio (WWR) for different building facades would reduce such energy losses. The optimum WWR is the window area that minimizes the total annual energy of cooling, heating, and lighting. The purpose of this study is to investigate the optimum WWR of different facades of an office building. For this purpose, a sample building is simulated by means of DesignBuilder software in order to investigate the annual solar heat gain, cooling load, heating load, and lighting consumption for the three cities of Bushehr, Shiraz, and Tabriz, and optimum window areas of office buildings for the three cities are determined. Based on the results, the optimum window area for the north building facade for all climates is 20–30%. This amount for the southern facade of the building in Bushehr, Shiraz, and Tabriz is, respectively, 20–30%, 10–30%, and 20–50%. The optimum window area for the eastern and western building facades in Bushehr is 30–50%; in Tabriz it is 40–70%, and in Shiraz it is 20–60% and 40–70%, respectively. The difference between the maximum and minimum energy consumption with different window areas in Bushehr and Shiraz is 20–100% and in Tabriz it is 16–25%. View Full-TextKeywords:
window-to-wall ratio (WWR); office; solar heat gain; climate; energy consumption
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Shaeri, J.; Habibi, A.; Yaghoubi, M.; Chokhachian, A. The Optimum Window-to-Wall Ratio in Office Buildings for Hot‒Humid, Hot‒Dry, and Cold Climates in Iran. Environments 2019, 6, 45.
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