STUDIO
Topic: Fenestration
Key words: Fenestration, energy efficient, High-performance window, climatic zone
What is fenestration?
The term fenestration originates from the Latin word fenestra, meaning window. In
Architecture, fenestration refers to the openings in the building façade which mainly
comprises of doors and windows.
Fenestration is a very commonly used term. Though the elements it comprises, i.e. doors,
windows and other openings and puncture might seem to be just a small arena of a design,
but hold a much larger importance and function.
Fenestration not only propagate light, ventilation, protection and viewing framing, but the
geometry and proportion, materials used, modularity, articulation and juxtaposition give a
character and imageability to the built form. It also caters some intangible aspects like
establishing relationship with the surrounding, responding to Anthropomorphism, defining
movement and axis, etc.
Contemporary issues pertaining to Architecture.
A building without openings and punctures would just be a mere enclosure of walls and
roofs where habitation would’ve been next to impossible in the absence of light and
ventilation. But fenestration is the weakest thermal link in the building envelope and a lot
of considerations need to be taken while designing the Fenestration to protect the
environment and reducing the emissions of various unwanted gases and also naturally
maintaining a comfortable environment for the maximum time of the year.
Contribution towards
Fenestration energy effeciency of the
buildings
Importance in Architecture Pedagogy.
Architects need to make buildings that are friendly to the environment and more green
which can be adaptable to the surroundings, in other words, they need to create
buildings that are energy efficient, like green buildings or sustainable buildings which are
designed to reduce the overall impact of the built.
A poorly designed fenestration can adversely affect the environment.
Designing the fenestration such that it naturally maintains the thermal comfort so as to
minimize the use of artificial ventilation that add to the carbon footprint and cutting the
emission of greenhouse gases to as close to zero as possible.
List of Research Papers.
1. Study of Various Glass Window and Building Wall Materials in Different Climatic Zones
of India for Energy Efficient Building Construction.
2. Optimizing windows for enhancing daylighting performance and energy saving.
3. Day lighting and thermal analysis using various double reflective window glasses for
green energy buildings.
1. Study of Various Glass Window and Building Wall Materials in Different
Climatic Zones of India for Energy Efficient Building Construction
Author: G Kiran Kumar, S. Saboor, T.P Ashok Babu
Publisher: Elsevier LTD.
Date: 26 May 2017
Gist of the paper:
Paper aims to present thermal performance of buildings constructed with various
building and window glass materials in five different climatic zones of India.
Spectral characteristics of four glasses were measured experimentally by using
Perkin-Elmer lambda 950spectrophotometer in the wavelength range of 300 -2500
nm as per ASTM standards.
The solar heat gain in buildings was investigated. The results revealed that the mud
brick wall building with south bronze-reflective glass window as energy saving from
the least heat gain point of view among eighty building models studied. The results
also showed that the mud brick wall building with bronze, green and bronze
reflective window glasses reduces heat gain through wall by 2.52%, 3.83%, and 6.46%
as compared to the mud brick wall building with clear glass window.
The experiment done in the paper gives an understanding of the behavior of
different materials and its effect on solar heat gain. The results helps in selecting
energy saving combination of wall envelope and window glass materials for
reducing Air - Conditioning loads in residential and commercial buildings of five
different climatic zones of India.
2. Optimizing windows for enhancing daylighting performance and energy
saving.
Author: Khaled Alhagla, Alaa Mansour, Rana Elbassuoni
Publisher: Elsevier LTD.
Date: 21 Februrary 2019
Gist of the paper:
Integration of daylighting strategies with electrical lighting controls can provide
automatic adjustments to provide minimum light levels with minimum electricity use.
Day lighting is a beneficial design strategy and important especially in office buildings
for several reasons.
The aim of this paper were to evaluating the potential of day lighting to save energy
use and reduce solar gain associated with window glazing impact on day lighting
performance and energy consumption which are investigated for several window
glazing types and utilized to operate lighting fixture illuminating an office space based
on day lighting simulation results called (diva for rhino)
Through this paper we understand that Windows shape, size (window to wall
ratio) and glazing types should be thought of as a part of fenestration system
style for workplace buildings, in order to balance day lighting requirements
versus the need to reduce solar gains. Different window to wall ratio are
selected and the energy used for lighting and cooling for that particular WWR is
calculated through simulation process and a comparative analysis is done and
the appropriate WWR and glazing is obtained.
3. Day lighting and thermal analysis using various double reflective window
glasses for green energy buildings.
Author: Kiran K. Gorantla , Saboor Shaik , Ashok B.T.P.R. Setty
Publisher: International Information and Engineering Technology Association
Date: 13 August 2018
Gist of the paper:
The objective of this research work is to identify the best double reflective window
glass which provides adequate day lighting by controlling solar heat gain as per the
requirement of summer and winter seasons of composite climatic zone in India.
To attain this objective an investigation of spectral characteristics of different
reflective glasses such like gold, sapphire blue, opal blue, grey, green and bronze
reflective glasses is carried out experimentally using Shimadzu UV 3600
spectrophotometer in the entire solar spectrum wavelength range from 300 nm to
2500 nm based on ASTM E 424 standards.
This research paper reveals that there is reduction in the solar heat gain passing
through various double reflective window glass combinations along with
providing adequate daylight in School room buildings of Indore climatic region of
India for both hottest and coolest days. This paper helps us to understand how
can we reduce air-conditioning loads and cost of artificial day lighting in
buildings.
Learning Objective
To design fenestration to reduce heat gain and
optimise day lighting for tropical climate.
A case of residential building/office building/school building.
Semester: 2nd Year – 4th Semester.
