Adaptive façades: Thermal energy performance evaluation of kinetic solar control elements

The increase in the need for energy and uncontrolled consumption of resources worldwide brings many problems such as climate change, global warming, air and water pollution, destruction of non-renewable energy resources, destruction of the natural environment and deterioration of the ecological balance. Sustainability is a concept that includes solutions to prevent and slow down emerging negative situations and is effective in many areas. One of the areas where the concept of sustainability is most effective is the construction sector. Buildings are responsible for a large part of the energy and resource consumption in the world during their life cycle, starting from the design process. Therefore, controlling energy consumption in buildings and using energy efficiently has become an important issue. Façade systems, which constitute the largest surface of the building envelope, are an up-to-date study area and are the most important building element in terms of the resistance of buildings against environmental factors, providing user comfort in the interior space and efficient use of energy in the building. One of the concepts that emerged as a result of these searches has been the adaptive façades that have become widespread in recent years. Adaptive façades are effective in ensuring the performance of the building, user comfort and energy saving by responding to the effects from the internal and external environment. Adaptive façade systems have been chosen as the field of study since it is a current subject that is referred to with various names in the literature. Within the scope of the thesis, starting from the concept of façade, the historical development of façade systems, performance requirements, classifications and types of façades are examined. Façade systems are categorized under two main headings: adaptive and non-adaptive. Research has been conducted on the historical development process, performance requirements, classifications, types and definitions of adaptive façade systems. As a result of the literature review and examples examined, a proposed classification table for adaptive façade systems was developed in the scope of the thesis. Then, thirty-five (35) examples of adaptive façade systems in the literature were analyzed according to the proposed classification table. As a result of the literature review and sample analysis, it was determined that "office" is one of the building types where adaptive façades are the most preferred. It has been observed that the design is especially emphasized according to the "sun" factor and when the façade movements are examined, it is seen that "sliding, folding" movements are frequently applied. For this reason, within the scope of the study, it was decided to evaluate the effect of kinetic solar control elements applied on the façade system of a multi-storey office building in Antalya on the energy performance of the building via DesignBuilder program. A ten (10) storey office building with curtain wall was designed as a case building and a kinetic solar control element consisting of four (4) parts was proposed on the south façade. The effect of this module, which can manually slide and fold in horizontal and vertical directions at 15 degrees angles, on the heating, cooling and total energy loads of the building has been evaluated with the help of analysis. As a result of the study, different positions of the kinetik solar control element, which is designed with a simple movement principle, were examined for each month and the most efficient positions were evaluated. It was seen that the amount of energy required in the building decreased in case of the application of solar control elements on the façade. It has been determined that the amount of energy consumed by the office building in Antalya is high, especially for cooling. It has been concluded that solar control elements are effective in reducing the required cooling load of the office during the hottest months of Antalya such as June, July, August and September. In line with the data obtained, it is seen that the solar control element reduces the annual energy consumption quite effectively when it is used at the locations where it provides the highest efficiency for each month.