Appling ETFE Material as Pneumatic Modular Cushions in Workspace's Fascade For Saving Energy

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Helwan University, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture Department

2 Fayoim University, Faculty of Engineering, Architecture Department

Abstract

According to all current studies, global warming and climate change are causing disasters for humanity. As a technique to improve natural light effectiveness in deep office spaces, integrating daylighting systems within building skin has become a lot of attention. However, maintaining the stability and uniformity of daylight distribution throughout the day inside a building remains difficult.  Consideration of energy efficiency in buildings and sustainability factors will result in large energy savings, environmental savings, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. ETFE foil has been increasingly employed as a building material for building envelopes over the past decades to generate green buildings. The research focuses on a new shading method for ETFE-membrane pneumatic modular cushions. The risk of overheating and glare effect in the summer is particularly considerable due to the high visual transmission of an ETFE foil (one layer transparent ETFE foil 92% @ 200m). As a result, a novel angle-selective shading system filters direct sunlight while allowing diffuse sunlight to enter the building. This solution, in particular, implies a reduction in cooling energy demands, which should improve thermal, daylighting and saving energy in the workspace. the researcher applies ETFE pneumatic modular cushions on the (DAR AL-Handasah) office building at smart-village as a case study to measure the effect of the cushions after and before in saving energy. A parametric design approach will facilitate a multistep comparison study to identify the proper design for the system.

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