Economic feasibility of nano aerogel glazing and phase change material glazing in office buildings

Abstract EN

The building Sector is currently responsible for approximately 40% of global world energy consumption and still expected to increase by 50% in year 2050.

In Egypt, most multi-storey office buildings have curtain walls facades which result in increasing energy consumed by HVAC systems for cooling needs, especially as Egypt is located in Hot-Arid Zone.

Recently, nano materials offered new potentials towards reduction of the annual energy consumption if applied as alternatives, in curtain wall or glazed facades.

The study was addressed in multi-storey office building in smart village, Egypt to investigate nano materials (Nano aerogel window & Phase Change material glazing) application in the office building glazing to study their impact on annual energy consumption performance compared to the existing conventional double glazing panels.

The office building energy simulation was simulated by DesignBuilder Software Version (6.0.1).

A cost analysis was conducted to assess these nano materials alternatives economic feasibility on long term period.

The simulation results showed that Nanogel Aerogel glazing reduced the annual energy consumption by 11.71 % while Phase change material (PCM) glazing reduced the annual energy consumption by 10.86 % .

For the current office building, the most efficient alternative in terms of energy consumption and cost-effectiveness is Nano Aerogel glazing.