Abstract
Purpose: This preliminary study investigated a potential of the water wall systems that provide heat storage and natural lighting control simultaneously. Method: In order for transparency of the water wall to be controlled, the study first proposed two measures: to adjust transparency of the water wall; to control transparency of water wall surface. The performance of two measures then was verified and compared by experiments. In addition, a trade-off between heat collect and heat storage resulting from using additive for adjusting transparency was investigated. Result: The experiment showed that the two measures are similar in performance. The investigation of trade-off relation showed the additive should have the same heat storage as the water to prevent decrease in thermal performance of the water wall. As an economical measure to control transparency of the water wall, this study suggested a measure of secondary heat transfer systems using shading device that first absorbs solar radiation and then transfers heat to the water wall. The experiment show that performance of the proposed measure is similar to controlling transparency of water wall surface. In conclusion, it is expected that the performance of the water wall can be economically maximized by using the proposed mean in terms of heating, cooling and lighting energy saving.