The project aims to discover and quantify the correlations between advanced windows and human comfort. This project builds on comfort research and applies it to fenestration products.  When properly selected and operated, high-performance windows reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Individual designers and consumers, who are not easily persuaded that operational energy savings justify a capital cost premium, would probably respond well if improved comfort were recognized and quantified. High-performance glazing systems also provide improved protection for interior furnishings against fading damage caused by ultraviolet and short-wave visible light. This project builds on ongoing LBNL research on glazing properties to provide technical information to window specifiers regarding fading protection and advanced windows.

Technical Approaches:

• Review existing literature and procedures regarding thermal comfort in buildings.
• Quantify the following window-related comfort issues:
      1)radiant asymmetry (from cold or hot windows);
      2) drafts caused by cold glass temperatures;
      3) effects (positive or negative) of direct solar radiation falling on a
          building occupant.
• Develop or adapt computer models to quantify effects.
• Investigate potential algorithms that predict the comfort impact of
  windows. This could form a basis for additional consumer-friendly
  information in the National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) system.
• Review and assess various measures for transmittance of fading
  radiation as calculated by software tools, with the aim of recommending the best measures for rating purposes.
• Report findings in the established literature such as ASHRAE Journal.
  
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