Kalwall systems modeled

asked 2017-10-02 10:20:48 -0500

Luciana Carvalho
51 ●2

updated 2017-10-03 13:03:13 -0500

__AmirRoth__

4436 ●5 ●17 http://bleedinggreenna...

Does anybody ever modeled Kalwall systems in Openstudio? I'm wondering if I should consider the surface as a wall or window. Here's the website with information about this wall assembly: https://www.kalwall.com/kalwall-produ.... They have wall and window systems... I suppose it would be better to model the wall as a curtain wall, but I'm not sure if this will represent the existing conditions accurately... What do you think?

answered 2017-10-02 14:09:34 -0500

David Goldwasser

20295 ●94 ●14 http://www.openstudio.net/

updated 2017-10-02 14:10:26 -0500

Any surface in EnergyPlus, or OpenStudio requires an opaque construction. If you want to model something that is translucent, then it needs to be modeled as window, glass door, or other sub/fenestration surface that supports non opaque constructions. If the entire wall is made up of this you can model a sub-surface that is almost as large as the base surface that hosts it.

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Thanks for your answer David! My concern is the WWR that will not be 'fairly' represented... it will be almost 90% of the surface without actually being that transparent. I guess I'll give it a try...

Luciana Carvalho ( 2017-10-02 14:58:35 -0500 )edit

You could track fenestration by construction to calculate your own WWR for traditional 'glazing' or are you more interested in how Kalwall is treated when reviewed for LEED or elsewhere? I don't have the answer to that.