Light pipes transmit daylight into building interiors. Their installation into thermally insulated roofs of low energy buildings can be a problem because of thermal bridges and condensation problems. This article is focused on a CFD simulation thermal analysis that include four variations of light pipes with a segment of a flat roof. Common light pipes with a hollow light guiding tube were compared to special light pipes containing an additional glass unit located inside the tube. The additional glass units increase thermal resistance and reduce condensation risks of the light guiding systems. The light pipes were compared in two different simulation models run in ANSYS Fluent software and the CalA program. Temperature profiles and air flow patterns of the cross sectional profiles of the light pipes served to determine the total heat transmittance and heat losses of the studied light pipes installed in a segment of a thermally insulated flat roof. The paper compares simplified 2D rotational-symmetrical numerical model based on the thermal diffusion equation with the complex 3D CFD numerical simulation. The results confirm that the simplified 2D numerical model is suitable for the thermal evaluation of the light pipes containing an additional glass unit, too. The additional glass unit with the triple glass improves thermal resistance up to 88% in case of light pipe with diameter 600 mm and reduces optical transmittance to 28%.Light pipes transmit daylight into building interiors. Their installation into thermally insulated roofs of low energy buildings can be a problem because of thermal bridges and condensation problems. This article is focused on a CFD simulation thermal analysis that include four variations of light pipes with a segment of a flat roof. Common light pipes with a hollow light guiding tube were compared to special light pipes containing an additional glass unit located inside the tube. The additional glass units increase thermal resistance and reduce condensation risks of the light guiding systems. The light pipes were compared in two different simulation models run in ANSYS Fluent software and the CalA program. Temperature profiles and air flow patterns of the cross sectional profiles of the light pipes served to determine the total heat transmittance and heat losses of the studied light pipes installed in a segment of a thermally insulated flat roof. The paper compares simplified 2D rotational-symmetrical numerical model based on the thermal diffusion equation with the complex 3D CFD numerical simulation. The results confirm that the simplified 2D numerical model is suitable for the thermal evaluation of the light pipes containing an additional glass unit, too. The additional glass unit with the triple glass improves thermal resistance up to 88% in case of light pipe with diameter 600 mm and reduces optical transmittance to 28%

Energy necessary for cooling of building in summer season makes a big part of energy required for building operation. Redundant heat removal in summer can be realized in various ways. One of possible methods, mainly in desert areas, is using thermal radiation against night sky. The paper deals with theoretical efficiency evaluation of night sky cooling in climatic condition of Czech Republic. The numerical simulations of non-steady heat transfer and internal thermal comfort evaluation in an office room has been performed. We have considered a cooling system consists of radiating panels placed on the roof, connected by pipes with the cooling ceiling in an office room. The radiating panel is used to cool down the cooling water by convection and heat radiation against the night sky. At first we processed the real hourly climatic data for city Brno and by using the extra-terrestrial solar irradiation we calculated night sky temperature during cloudy conditions and other necessary climate parameters for the long-term simulations. From this file of data, we selected seven typical combinations of equivalent sky temperatures, external air temperatures and wind velocities in order to cover the external conditions during the summer nights. Next we assumed a variable mean temperature of water flowing through the radiating panel in order to be able of computing its thermal performance. Then we carried out seven simulations of chosen radiating panel with these boundary conditions by means of computational fluid dynamics method (CFD) in the software Fluent. The data obtained were processed in the own software so we set the appropriate regression functions describing the thermal behaviour of radiating panel, which was then used for long-term thermal performance simulations in software TRNSYS. The multi zone model in TRNSYS links the building and its equipment with thermal the cooling ceiling model as well as with the water loop containing the radiating panels. This computer model is capable of simulating the night sky cooling impact on the building and its internal environment. Since the investigation we carried out at the chosen office building, we used the typical office operation inclusive the schedules of occupancy, natural ventilation, heat gains from lightning, equipment etc. Then have performed two long-term simulations with and without night sky cooling. The simulations have shown the outlet temperature of the radiant panel below the external air temperature in a few cases. This finding confirms the positive effect of radiation transfer against the night sky in the climate of Czech Republic. The thermal comfort was evaluated according the standard ISO 7730 and has been found the significant improvement of internal thermal comfort by using the night sky cooling in the testing office building.Energy necessary for cooling of building in summer season makes a big part of energy required for building operation. Redundant heat removal in summer can be realized in various ways. One of possible methods, mainly in desert areas, is using thermal radiation against night sky. The paper deals with theoretical efficiency evaluation of night sky cooling in climatic condition of Czech Republic. The numerical simulations of non-steady heat transfer and internal thermal comfort evaluation in an office room has been performed. We have considered a cooling system consists of radiating panels placed on the roof, connected by pipes with the cooling ceiling in an office room. The radiating panel is used to cool down the cooling water by convection and heat radiation against the night sky. At first we processed the real hourly climatic data for city Brno and by using the extra-terrestrial solar irradiation we calculated night sky temperature during cloudy conditions and other necessary climate parameters for the long-term simulations. From this file of data, we selected seven typical combinations of equivalent sky temperatures, external air temperatures and wind velocities in order to cover the external conditions during the summer nights. Next we assumed a variable mean temperature of water flowing through the radiating panel in order to be able of computing its thermal performance. Then we carried out seven simulations of chosen radiating panel with these boundary conditions by means of computational fluid dynamics method (CFD) in the software Fluent. The data obtained were processed in the own software so we set the appropriate regression functions describing the thermal behaviour of radiating panel, which was then used for long-term thermal performance simulations in software TRNSYS. The multi zone model in TRNSYS links the building and its equipment with thermal the cooling ceiling model as well as with the water loop containing the radiating panels. This computer model is capable of simulating the night sky cooling impact on the building and its internal environment. Since the investigation we carried out at the chosen office building, we used the typical office operation inclusive the schedules of occupancy, natural ventilation, heat gains from lightning, equipment etc. Then have performed two long-term simulations with and without night sky cooling. The simulations have shown the outlet temperature of the radiant panel below the external air temperature in a few cases. This finding confirms the positive effect of radiation transfer against the night sky in the climate of Czech Republic. The thermal comfort was evaluated according the standard ISO 7730 and has been found the significant improvement of internal thermal comfort by using the night sky cooling in the testing office building

Tubular light guides are applicable for daylighting of windowless areas in buildings. Despite their many positive indoor climate aspects they can also present some problems with heat losses and condensation. A computer CFD model focused on the evaluation of temperature distribution and air flow inside tubular light guides of different dimensions was studied. The physical model of the tested light guides of lengths more than 0.60 m proves shows that Rayleigh numbers are adequate for a turbulent air flow. The turbulent model was applied despite the small heat flux differences between the turbulent and laminar model. The CFD simulations resulted into conclusions that the growing ratio of length/diameter increases the heat transmission loss/linear transmittance as much as by 50 percent. Tubular light guides of smaller diameters have lower heat transmission losses compared to the wider ones of the same lengths with the same outdoor temperature being taken into account. The simulation results confirmed the thermal bridge effect of the tubular light guide tube inside the insulated flat roof details. The thermal transmittance of the studied light guides in the whole roof area was substituted with the point thermal bridges. This substitution gives possibility for simple thermal evaluation of the tubular light pipes in roof constructions.