Determining the impact of horizontal and vertical fins of office facades on visual and thermal comfort

Abstract

A high degree of transparency is customary in modern building design, and horizontal or/ and vertical fins are often employed for shading the building envelope. This study proposes a method to limit horizontal and vertical fin ranges according to current visual and thermal comfort standards. The study was carried out considering a module office room, which is assumed to be located in an office building, and one long wall is transparent. The minimum and maximum fit ranges were determined for four glazing types and seven directions the transparent wall faces (a total of 112 cases). The criteria suggested in the standard EN 17037 have been considered for visual comfort. In the first stage of providing thermal comfort, solar control was implemented to limit the fin range, that is, the annual shading need and solar gain were identified depending on the direction. Afterward, the adaptive comfort method recommended for naturally ventilated spaces in the ASHRAE 55-2017 standard was applied to evaluate the comfort conditions of the fit ranges. The detailed analysis revealed that the optimum direction regarding thermal and visual comfort is south, and the fin type in this direction is horizontal. Vertical fins in the west, east, northwest, and northeast directions provide positive outcomes. The performance of the horizontal and vertical fins is close to each other in the southwest and southeast directions. The results for the module office room can be used to take principle decisions for fit design.