Impact of Climate-Responsive Shading System: Assessment of Energy Performance for the Future Adaptation of Houses in Louisiana

Recently, the risk of extreme heat has increased due to global warming, which has led to further energy use for cooling. This cycle intensifies global warming and heat conditions, emphasizing the urgent need for sustainable building design to mediate heat. Shading devices are an effective building repair strategy to reduce the impact of solar heating and the energy demand for cooling, which may help vulnerable populations by decreasing their energy bill (Hansen et al. 2013). However, traditional static shading lacks adaptability to changing weather (Sharaidin 2014). Climate-responsive systems offer viable solutions for building retrofit due to their ability to respond to varying environmental conditions. These systems can integrate with photovoltaic (PV) systems, maximizing solar energy harvesting by positioning PV cells at optimal angles. Louisiana’s high solar energy potential and air conditioning demands amplify the benefits of these systems; Louisiana households use the highest annual electricity purchases per residential customer in the U.S. at 40.47 kWh/ day but receive 4.0 – 4.5 kWh/m²/day of solar energy (DeCarolis and LaRose 2023; Sengupta et al. 2022). Moreover, adaptive solar shading systems, which utilize a solar tracker to follow the sun, may achieve a dynamic high-performance design that adds a unique architectural expression to the building facade with the spatiotemporal behavior of each module (Nagy, Rossi, and Schlueter 2012). The present study proposes a solar-responsive facade sys¬tem that uses panels in a diagrid formation with mechanical movement in response to the sun’s movement. By utilizing computational simulations, this study aims to investigate how the rotation angle of the panels affects the energy performance of the shading device. The solar-adaptive shading system design enhances the sustainability and resiliency of existing buildings by promoting repair rather than new construction.