The Impact of Glass Facade on users Comfort The Case o f Radiation Vulnerable of Ficesin Addis Ababa
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2016-06
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Abstract
The aim of this thesis was to assess the impact of glass facades on human thermal and visual comfort. The study focused on indoor environment, nearby open spaces and drivers in the emerging central business district (CBD) area of Addis Ababa. The research ranged from mapping radiation vulnerable streets of the city to selecting and analyzing the thermal and visual performance of individual buildings. The assessment was conducted using methodologies such as subjective evaluation, experiment and computer simulation. The result showed that, the ranking of indoor thermal environmental conditions slightly differed between female and male, and between perimeter and interior zone. Out of 120 participants, 78.33% dissatisfied with the thermal environment, 13.33% were comfortable, and 8.33% did not notice the thermal environment. During outdoor environment analysis, out of 50 drivers, 84% valued the risk of glare, 10% complained about the risk of accident and the rest 6% did not notice visual impact of glass facades. On the other hand, the computer simulation output of selected offices showed that March, April and May are the hottest months of the year while critical time of the day was between 2:30pm and 4:00pm. Both the survey and the simulation results showed that, with fully glazed facades, the indoor temperature gradually rises up and affects occupant’s comfort and productivity.
These results finally discussed and interpreted into guidelines which offers basic considerations during overall urban setup strategies as well as particular building facade component production in the city. Afterwards, the guideline was tested through innovative methodology of using light simulation and critical solar angle analysis which led to solar responsive geometric configuration. This component basically responds to particular thermal discomfort period of the day, which in this study called ‘critical time’ while for the rest of the day, it could be opened and closed. To sum up, the study generally concerned with the role of building skins in relation to natural light and the importance of adaptive solar shading as this plays an extensive role in tropical climates, like Addis Ababa where the facade has a direct impact on the thermal and visual comfort.
Keywords: Day-lighting, Solar gain, Air temperature, Thermal mass, Thermal comfort Visual comfort, Glass facade, Effective shading, Computer simulation
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Keywords
Day-lighting, Solar gain, Air temperature, Thermal mass, Thermal comfort, Visual comfort, Glass facade, Effective shading, Computer simulation