Maria Konstantoglou has been enrolled in a Ph.D program at the School of Architecture, University of Thessally funded by the Ph.D Scholarship program “Heraclitus II” (2010). Under the guidance of professor Aris Tsangrassoulis she examined the performance of daylighting technologies. Her work has been presented in conferences in Europe and the United States. Mrs Konstantoglou is a graduate of the School of Architecture, Aristotle University and she holds a Masters of Philosophy (M. Phil.) in Environmental Design at the University of Cambridge. She has worked at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) in the San Francisco office (2006-2008). Mrs Konstantoglou worked as a principal research associate at LBNL (2008-2010) and a member of the Windows and Envelope Materials Group

The building shell is a means of interaction between buildings’ internal and external environment and influences their environmental behavior. The main goal of this dissertation is the integration of performance criteria into the shell’s morphological elements. Systematization and division of the building shell into zones depending on the functions they represent leads this research work to modular facades and systems. The study focuses on dynamic daylighting and shading systems evaluated in terms of the degree they affect occupants visual and thermal comfort as well as buildings’ energy consumption.

Initially, the study refers to the role of the built environment to the overall energy consumption. It refers to the energy consumption distribution to the built environment in the United States, the European Union and mainly in Greece. It summarizes the parameters that influence energy consumption for cooling and lighting and highlights the building shell’s role with a focus on daylighting and shading systems. The research study includes a literature review on façade technologies that presents daylighting and shading systems as well as control strategies and automation models. It highlights the systems impact on energy balance and their interaction with occupants.

The analytical study of the dissertation is divided into two phases. In the first phase, the study focuses on dynamic façade systems. Originally, the performance of automated blinds for three window scenarios (window to wall ratio) was studied. Next, the study examined a reflective sun-tracking lightshelf in terms of its ability to increase daylighting levels deeper into the space. The first phase of the analysis concludes to the examination of a dynamic system that combines automated blinds and reflective light-shelf. The system consists of a reflective light-shelf, automated blinds on the lower part of the window and static blinds on the upper part. Remarks and conclusions from the first phase contributed to the conformation of the second phase that aimed to analytically examine two dynamic systems: automated blinds and a dynamic system that consists of automated blinds and a sun-tracking light-shelf. To achieve a thorough study of the two dynamic systems, a large number of scenarios were defined. The scenarios included five window openings, all four orientations and four climate zones.

Conclusively, the present dissertation contributed to the definition of automated blinds and sun-tracking light-shelves control strategies. Dynamic systems control strategies are defined depending on the selected performance factors. Furthermore the research study defined the analysis methodology of dynamic systems that was used for the examination of a series of dynamic systems. Results have shown that automated blinds contribute to the energy conservation and occupants comfort depending on the control strategy. Dynamic systems that consist of more than one system balance conflicting criteria and optimize their performance.
 

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