A critical review of fenestration/window system design methods for high performance buildings

Fan Feng, Niraj Kunwar, Kristen Cetin, Zheng O'Neill

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

29 Scopus citations

Abstract

Fenestrations allow for natural daylight and outdoor views, but also represent the least thermally efficient portion of the building envelope, and thus can be a source of unwanted direct sunlight and associated discomfort glare. A well-designed fenestration system operated with proper control strategies is capable of reducing building energy usage significantly while maintaining a both thermally and visually comfortable environment for occupants. This paper reviews and analyzes window design studies for high-performance buildings, which could be interpreted as decision-making processes to achieve the window performance goals by controlling a series of design variables (e.g., location and dimensions of windows, glazing type, etc.). An overview of available design options for window systems to date is introduced first, and then the decision-making methodologies of window systems are categorized and analyzed to present a comprehensive review, where we present a detailed analysis of sequential knowledge-based design methods and simulation-based optimization methods. Last, potential challenges and future research trends are identified and analyzed to help promote all automatic simulation-based optimization design methods for high performance fenestration systems.

Original languageEnglish
Article number111184
JournalEnergy and Buildings
Volume248
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2021
Externally publishedYes

Funding

This study is supported by the NSF project #2011296 and #2013093 “ Collaborative Research: Adaptive, Multi-Layered Fenestration Elements for Optimum Building Energy Performance and Occupant Comfort.

FundersFunder number
National Science Foundation2013093, 2011296

    Keywords

    • Fenestration system design optimization
    • Knowledge-based design
    • Simulation-based design
    • Window technology

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