This paper evaluates the building energy demand and visual comfort of a real case
with a glazed façade office building placed in Málaga (Mediterranean city in the south of
Spain). South oriented facades receive such a high solar gain that cooling demand cannot
be handled by the current HVAC system. As an environmental friendly solution, a shading
control strategy based on vertical and horizontal louvers is proposed.
The study consists of a comparison between the actual and the refurbished building
with shading devices. Daylighting simulation is done with Daysim (Daysim, 2016). A
group of offices with south, east and north oriented facades is chosen for the study. Horizontal
louvers in the south façade and vertical louvers in the east facade are modelled
and simulated. The simulation changes the angle of the louver: 0º (perpendicular to the
glazing), -30º, 30º, -60º, 60º. Visual comfort parameters analyzed are: illuminance, daylight
autonomy (DA) and useful daylight index (UDI). With respect to the thermal comfort,
not only louvers orientation try to provide solar protection for glazed areas in cooling
period but also maximize solar gains in heating period. However, an excessive daylight
could affect discomfort glare. Shading control strategy must provide the equilibrium
between both aspects. Thermal demand is calculated with Trnsys (TRNSYS, 2016).
