ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 272

Introduction
To achieve energy efficient buildings for a low-carbon energy system, is essential that the structures that mark its volume are properly insulated. The shell is the most sensitive part of the building in order to calculate the heat load and can be thought of as a dynamic system that, separates
and connects the interior from the exterior. The efficiency of the building envelope is given by the
ability to react flexibly to the variability of environmental conditions and the choice of its components - frames and coating systems - affects the energy performance of the construction and the
internal environmental comfort.
In order to reduce heat loss and increase the efficiency of the building-service system, it is necessary to have instruments which are support to the optimal choices of the construction elements
to be used in new buildings and in existing ones to improve thermal insulation. To choose the
window frames and glazing systems it’s important to evaluate some features on the thermal behavior as the global transmittance of both individual elements and of the “window” system, as the
thermal transmittance and the heat flow, which shows the energy performance in specific points.
Currently there are software that allow you to make the rigorous calculation of isotherms, but the
use needs technical skills and the processing time is not short. PADesign srl Company has developed a tool that could allow the easy calculation of the thermal transmittance, showing the heat
flow in order to facilitate the choice between several possible technological solutions.
This tool will appeal to a wide audience, because it does not require specific professional skills. It
is an user-friendly tool that can be useful for designers, customers, employees to view the thermal
behavior and take advantage of the incentives provided by the law.

Innovation of the system
To accurately assess the effect of thermal bridges in the vertical window frames, there are commonly in use specific software for finite element calculations. This involves the application of specific skills, as well as long times for the computation and for the changing, from time to time, of
the flow diagram of the selected combination.
The proposed solution, however, is able to quickly view and compare the values of thermal transmittance and the isotherms of the heat flow of the chosen solutions, to compare the output data
and to change the combinations so as to facilitate the choice of the best combination even by
those who not have high skills in the use of specific software (Fig.1).

Figure 1: Demonstrative image of the flows calculated by the tool in the perimeter and in the central
node of two-wing window

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ZEMCH 2015 | International Conference | Bari - Lecce, Italy