Predicting the Solar Energy and Space-heating Energy Performance for Solid-wall Detached House Retrofitted with the Composite Edge-sealed Triple Vacuum Glazing

Existing UK solid-wall houses, which have both heritage values and historic fabric, are being improved but yet they tend to have preventable heat loss through windows. Triple Vacuum Glazing is regarded as evolutionary step in minimising the space-heating loss. This paper takes a comparative analysis approach to envisage space-heating supply required for achieving thermal comfort temperatures and attainable solar energy gains to households with the retrofit of the thermal transmittance (U-value) of a new composite edge-sealed triple vacuum glazing i.e. 0.33 Wm-2K-1. 3D dynamic thermal models (timely regimes of heating, occupancy, ventilation and internal heat gains) of an externally-insulated solid-wall detached house with a range of existing glazing types along with triple vacuum glazing with frame areas are modelled. The predictions of varying window-to-wall ratios on space-heating energy and solar energy gains for winter months are analysed. The notable winter and annual space-heating energy savings of 14.58% (EUR 49.2) and 15.31% (EUR 105.4), respectively, were obtained with a solid-wall detached house retrofitted with triple vacuum glazed windows compared to single glazed windows. The heat loss calculations show a prominent reduction from 12.92% to 2.69% when replacing single glazed windows to triple vacuum glazed windows.