An experimental study on the environmental performance of the automated blind in summer

Blinds are used widely in numerous buildings to conserve energy and provide for occupantsʹ comfort in the perimeter zone. However, manual or motorized blinds are limited in their ability to reduce energy consumption and to provide comfort because occupants themselves must operate blinds to block direct solar radiation. Thus, the use of automated blinds would more fully exploit the full benefits of blinds. This study aims to find out whether the environmental performance of a building can be improved by the application of an automated Venetian blind in comparison to a manual or motorized Venetian blind and whether occupants may feel discomfort by the application of an automated Venetian blind in the summer season. This study also aims to find out the insufficiency of the automatic control algorithm of that automated Venetian blind for future study of the development of that algorithm. Through this study, the potential energy savings and the comfort enhancement when using the automated blind was confirmed and the insufficiency of the automatic control algorithm of that was also found out.