Assessment of advanced glazing systems for building energy efficiency in hot-arid climates

The built environment is considered among the most contributing factors to energy consumption. The building envelope plays a crucial role in determining the building energy consumption, regulating heat transfer and maintaining adequate indoor environmental quality. Hence, optimizing the thermal performance of the building envelope by achieving optimal glazing solutions while fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 7) is the main aim of this research. This study investigates the impact of various facade glazing systems on the building energy performance, focusing on the cooling energy consumption of an office building in a hot arid climate, Cairo, Egypt. The novelty of this study lies in evaluating the adaptability of multiple glazing technologies in hot arid climate employing two different approaches: experimental and simulation. A thorough literature review was first conducted to have a comprehensive background, followed by an experimental study. The experimental setup involved small concrete chambers equipped with temperature sensors that were utilized to test four different glazing types: single-glazed clear glass, double-glazed clear glass, low-emissivity coated Vistalite sky-blue double-glazed pane, and solar control Stopray Smart 30 double-glazed pane. A simulation model was then established using TRNSYS 17.0.0 software to validate the experimental findings. A deviation of less than 9% was detected. Subsequently, a comprehensive simulation case study on a medium office building in Cairo was performed. The experimental results demonstrated that the solar control glazing (Stopray Smart 30) exhibited the best performance, reducing the internal chamber temperature by 17 °C compared to ordinary clear glass and enhancing thermal efficiency by 29%. The simulation results indicate a significant enhancement of the building thermal efficiency by 22% and a remarkable reduction of cooling energy consumption by 50% when replacing conventional clear double-glazed windows with solar control glazing (Stopray Smart 30). This research provides crucial insights into enhancing energy efficiency in buildings in hot climates through the optimal selection of high-performance glazing systems.