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Title: Daylighting performance and thermal implications of skylights vs. south-facing roof monitors

Conference ·
OSTI ID:361852
;  [1]
  1. ARC Design Group, Meriden, NH (United States)

This paper reports the results of a comparison of skylights vs. south-facing roof monitors for daylighting the north wall zone of a 10,000 ft{sup 2} office building near Manchester, NH. A physical model was constructed and tested. Simultaneously, the building`s annual thermal performance was modeled with Energy-10 hourly simulation software, and its peak heating and cooling load performance was modeled with the Carrier Corp. Hourly Analysis Program (HAP). Apertures were built into the roof of the model, and several skylight and south-facing roof monitor configurations were tested in both clear and overcast conditions. A design goal was to have the building be daylit on overcast as well as clear days. This goal was based more on enhancement of the working environment than it was on electrical energy savings. Monitors with overhangs performed poorly in the overcast conditions--it was determined that 2.4 times as much monitor aperture was needed to yield equivalent light levels in overcast conditions. The thermal models showed that the annual heating and cooling energy cost for the building was the same for either strategy, but that peak cooling loads and peak heating loads were lower with the skylit version. The authors concluded that skylights were preferred over monitors in this application, due to similar annual energy costs, lower peak loads, and lower construction cost.

OSTI ID:
361852
Report Number(s):
CONF-970441-; ISBN 0-89553-212-3; TRN: IM9933%%234
Resource Relation:
Conference: SOLAR `97: national solar energy conference, Washington, DC (United States), 25-30 Apr 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997; Related Information: Is Part Of Proceedings of the 22. national passive solar conference: Volume 22; Campbell-Howe, R.; Wilkins-Crowder, B. [eds.]; PB: 392 p.
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English