Graduate students Jackson Sloan and Dani Stockman constructed adaptable solar shades for one of Dr. Foroughi's research projects. The aim is to study how these shades may minimize an office building's energy consumption.
These proposed solar shades were designed to investigate the trade-off between heating and cooling loads and lighting energy use. An optimization model was developed using the Hill-Climbing (HC) algorithm coupled with EnergyPlus software to design and operate the proposed adaptable window shades. The DesignBuilder software (a graphical interface of EnergyPlus) was also used to create the model's geometry. The developed model can identify the trade-off between heating and cooling loads and lighting energy use to find the proposed solar shades' optimum exposed glazing area (EGA).
Unlike traditional shadings, the proposed movable window shading can partially open and close based on outdoor climate conditions. To control the model's feasibility, identify the problems associated with the environmental conditions, and compare the energy results of actual modules with a simulation model, this physical model is constructed and installed outside of Room 165 of Katherine Harper Hall.
adaptable solar shades used in a research project
Solar Shades