Improving building facade design using integrated simulation of daylighting, thermal performance and natural ventilation

The opening of building facade has a strong influence on energy consumption. However, making full use of solar energy and natural wind to reduce energy consumption is a challenge for architects. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of the facade design on energy consumption from an operable aspect. The evaluation comes from an integrated approach combining daylighting, thermal performance and natural ventilation. The study is based on computer simulation technique utilizing simulation tools EnergyPlus and Fluent. To facilitate the use of EnergyPlus, a simple graphic user interface has been developed by Matlab. The interface can set the parameters of EnergyPlus and process the wind pressure coefficients calculated by Fluent. With this interface, three type facade configurations with different areas or position changes have been modelled. The results show that opening area, compared with opening positions, exerts a greater influence on energy consumption. The opening position changes have a positive influence; however, this influence is small: at around 2%.