Phase Change Materials in Glazing: Implications on Light Distribution and Visual Comfort. Preliminary Results

The visual comfort concerned with a technology with PCM embedded into a double glazing unit was analyzed, using the Daylight Probability Glare and the ‘Useful Illuminance’ (percent of workplane with an illuminance in the range 100-3000 lx). A sample office room was modeled using Radiance, under a clear sky and with the façade facing south. The visible transmittance of PCM was measured in laboratory and used as input in Radiance. The simulations were carried out for the two solstices and the Autumn equinox (four hours per day), for three sites (Östersund, 63.2°N; Turin, 45.2°N; Abu Dhabi, 24.4°N), considering the solid state of the PCM only.