New Delhi: The team of Indian engineers has identified a combination of reflective bronze glass and mud brick walls as the best choice for reducing the air conditioning load on glass curtain walls outside the modern building.

Engineers from the National Institute of Technology in Surascar and the Vellore Institute of Technology conducted a computer simulation of how various combinations of building materials and glass responded to the heat and sunlight in a set of 80 building designs.

They said their discovery aimed at instructing architects on what materials to use to minimize heat in glass curtain wall buildings, especially during the summer months.

Glass curtain wall commercial buildings have become popular, some in the industry believe that the weight of glass lighter, saving area: Glass curtain wall than the glass curtain wall area of 8% less.

Shaikh Saboor, associate professor of advanced and energy engineering at VIT, who is in charge of the research, said: "We found that the density of concrete walls and transparent windows on the façades was the worst combination." This combination is related to the highest amount of heat inside the building. "

Saboor and his NIT colleagues G. Kiran Kumar and TP Ashok Babu measured four building materials (laterite, charred bricks, compacted concrete and mud bricks) and four types of glass (clear glass, bronze glass, green glass, and reflective glass ) Bronze glass) affects the heat gain in the building.

They simulated the sun exposure of buildings in five cities - Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi and Guwahati - each city representing a particular climate zone. They found that in each city, the combination of mud brick and reflective bronze glass produced less heat than dense concrete and clear glass.

Results from a study published in the Energy Program magazine on Sunday showed that, compared to clear glass and clay bricks, reflective bronze glass has an average reduction of 6% in calories compared to mud brick walls.

"These findings should encourage builders to consider the most environmentally friendly options, especially for commercial buildings," said Saboor. "Less heat in a building requires less air conditioning.

"The ideal glass façade should provide the ideal thermal comfort and the ideal visual comfort," he said, adding too much bright light inside is unnecessary.

Engineers explained that the walls of a building are mostly used for partitioning rather than the main load-bearing structure. Saboor said: "The columns in the building are the main load-bearing structures, and mud brick walls easily meet the standard strength requirements for the separation structure.

However, energy efficiency experts point out that building energy efficiency depends not only on walls and glass. An adviser to India's Green Building Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry said: "Even with concrete walls and transparent glass windows, there are other ways to increase efficiency." The official said: "The design, insulation clearance, lighting in commercial buildings , And even seating for people, can help reduce energy consumption.