A more sustainable curtain wall system: Analytical modeling of the solar dynamic buffer zone (SDBZ) curtain wall

Given the increases in both the environmental and economic costs of energy, there is a need to design and build more sustainable and low-energy building systems now. Curtain wall assemblies are engineered wall assemblies that are used widely in both high-rise as well as low-rise construction. These assemblies show great promise—with the minimal modification outlined in this paper they can be built better now. Often ignored, spandrel panels that comprise a part of curtain wall assemblies can be natural solar collectors. By using a new, simple, low-cost method such as a solar dynamic buffer zone (SDBZ), solar energy can be efficiently gathered or excluded using the movement of air. Such a method can be used in both retrofit as well as new construction. This paper will introduce and outline a proposed SDBZ curtain wall system and present the results of analytical modelling. Using these results, a SDBZ system will be shown to be a more sustainable option for traditional curtain wall assemblies.