Electrochromic window integration in adaptive building envelopes in different climates: a genetic optimization of switchable glazing parameters to reduce energy consumptions in office buildings

During last decades, many efforts have been made to address challenges regarding building energy consumption. A particularly interesting and effective field of development in the building domain is represented by responsive technologies applied to transparent envelopes. Among these technologies, the electrochromic (EC) glazing is one of the most developed solutions thanks to its capability to dynamically modulate daylight and thermal radiation, simply applying a controlled external voltage. The aim of this study is to provide a methodology to analyse smart responsive technologies and optimize the properties of an ideal switchable glazing to find the best configuration for a medium office in different climatic zones. The genetic optimization considers a 5-elements genome, constituted of the following genes: i) solar heat gain coefficient in bleached (SHGCB) and ii) coloured state (SHGCC), iii) visible light transmittance in bleached (VLTB) and iv) coloured state (VLTC) and v) thermal transmittance (U). Moreover, different European cities were selected as representative of different climatic zones and results obtained give a set of ideal EC glazing configurations in the case of EC window controlled by daylighting sensors.