Effect of Solar Optical Properties of Building Envelope on Time Lag, Decrement Factor and Energy Saving of Buildings

Abstract

World has been suffering from energy crisis since 1970. This is because of the increased population and industrialization. Buildings have a significant contribution to total energy consumption across the globe. The increased urbanization leads to boom in construction of buildings. The materials used for the construction of buildings affect the climate of the city up to a great extent and affect the energy consumption as well. So, construction materials should be chosen wisely. The surface temperature of the building envelope is affected by the coatings used. Cool coatings help in reducing the surface temperature of the building envelope. Time lag and decrement factor are the indicators of energy saving in building. In this paper, the effect of cool coating on time lag and decrement factor was studied. Values of time lag and decrement factor were evaluated in different climatic zones of India. It has been found that as the absorptivity of the building envelope increases, the decrement factor increases. By changing the absorptivity from 0.2 to 0.73, a minimum change of 16% (New Delhi) in decrement factor and 11.75% (Jodhpur) in surface temperature was observed. The maximum change in decrement factor was 56.44% (Jodhpur). The maximum change in surface temperature was 39.02% (Bangalore). So, it should always be practised to keep the absorptivity of the building envelope as low as possible. © 2020, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.