Mechanical cooling energy reduction for commercial buildings in hot climates: effective use of external solar shading incorporating effects on daylight contribution

This paper investigates the effectiveness of multiple external shading devices and identifies the most effective fixed external shading configurations for commercial building types in hot climates. Daylight contribution is also analysed in detail in order to monitor the daylighting factor reduction including uniformity for each shading configuration. Existing dynamic thermal modeling software is used to completing analysis on a theoretical open office plan building. Simulation results indicate that multiple angled external shading is the most effective solution for commercial buildings in hot climates. The calculated diurnal cooling load reduction for East, South and West elevations are 46.20%, 41.16% and 46.53% respectively. Furthermore, daytime cooling load (kW) reduction is reduced by 17.80% using the optimum solution. All dynamic thermal simulations are compared against a base case to clearly show possible cooling energy reduction (MWh) and carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) associated with cooling system for single storey open office building.