Window blind choice hinges on visual comfort, study finds
Researchers used a decision-making framework to rank interior window blinds and found that venetian blinds at 0° offer the best balance of energy savings, thermal comfort, and cost. The work could help building designers and facility managers make faster purchasing decisions that align with their priorities.
Originaltitel: Application of analytical hierarchy process for selecting an interior window blind
<p>Window blinds have a substantial role in shaping the energy consumption and improving thermal comfort and visual comfort. However, difficulties in selecting a window blind remain, due to existence of potential conflicts between visual, thermal, energy and life cycle cost. To overcome this problem, this study evaluates the performance of interior blinds, including venetian with slat of 0° and 45°, roller and double pleated blinds with respect to visual, thermal, energy and life cycle cost. Later, the Analytical hierarchy method (AHP) is used for selecting the best blind based on trade-off among the visual, thermal, energy and life cycle cost. In using AHP, visual comfort is determined as most important objective with a weight of 52%. The results show that venetian blind with slat of 0° drawn 100% is the trade-off blind. Accomplishing the sensitivity analysis on blinds’ global weight shows that venetian blind with slat of 0° drawn 100% remains the trade-off blind until the weight of energy and life cycle cost is below 37% and 57% respectively and the weight of visual comfort is above 4%. However, changing thermal comfort weight has no impact on ranking of the blinds. This study shows the capability of AHP in managing the conflicts.</p><p></p>