ON THE AIR-FLOW AND RADIATION TRANSFER THROUGH PARTLY COVERED EXTERNAL BUILDING OPENINGS

Solar control devices placed in front of large building openings distu rb air flow and the radiation transfer. Although solar radiation trans fer through obstructed openings is a relatively well researched area, very little information is available regarding the air flow perturbati ons and daylighting alterations created by external solar control devi ces. The present paper reports a series of experiments aiming at inves tigating natural ventilation and daylight phenomena associated with th e use of specific shading devices. Experiments have been carried out i n outdoor test cells, and 28 different configurations have been tested for several window characteristics under various climatic and radiati on characteristics. Based on the experimental results, specific modeli ng activities have been undertaken and theoretical methods of calculat ing air flow and daylight through openings equipped with specific sola r control devices have been developed and are now presented. Theoretic al predictions are compared with the corresponding experimental data a nd a very satisfactory agreement has been found for both air flow and daylight processes. (C) 1997 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.