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A more sustainable curtain wall system: Analytical modeling of the solar dynamic buffer zone (SDBZ) curtain wall

Richman, R. C. and Pressnail, K. D.
2009
Building and Environment, 44(1): 1-10
Energy efficiency; Sustainability; Curtain wall; Solar air collectors


Richman, R. C. and Pressnail, K. D., (2009), "A more sustainable curtain wall system: Analytical modeling of the solar dynamic buffer zone (SDBZ) curtain wall", Building and Environment, 44(1): 1-10.
Abstract:
Given the increases in both the environmental and economic costs of energy, there is a need to design and build more sustainable and low-energy building systems now. Curtain wall assemblies are engineered wall assemblies that are used widely in both high-rise as well as low-rise construction. These assemblies show great promise--with the minimal modification outlined in this paper they can be built better now. Often ignored, spandrel panels that comprise a part of curtain wall assemblies can be natural solar collectors. By using a new, simple, low-cost method such as a solar dynamic buffer zone (SDBZ), solar energy can be efficiently gathered or excluded using the movement of air. Such a method can be used in both retrofit as well as new construction. This paper will introduce and outline a proposed SDBZ curtain wall system and present the results of analytical modelling. Using these results, a SDBZ system will be shown to be a more sustainable option for traditional curtain wall assemblies.

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Author Information and Other Publications Notes
Richman, R. C.
  1. Quantifying and predicting performance of the solar dynamic buffer zone (SDBZ) curtain wall through experimentation and numerical modeling  
Pressnail, K. D.
  1. Air pressure and building envelopes
  2. Quantifying and predicting performance of the solar dynamic buffer zone (SDBZ) curtain wall through experimentation and numerical modeling  



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