InDeWaG News
InDeWaG Demonstrational Pavilion in Sofia, Bulgaria

InDeWaG project aims at bringing the water flow glazing (WFG) technology into industrial ripeness. One of the main milestones towards that goal is the construction of a pavilion with facades consisting of WFG elements. For that purpose InDeWaG partners have designed a pavilion that will serve as demonstrator for this new technology. It is shaped like a glass box with a square plan measuring 7.24 meters by 7.24 meters. The glass envelope is composed of WFG modules on the East, West and South facade, while the North facade will be opaque. The roof, floor and north facade are well insulated and will contribute to the low energy requirements of the pavilion, which is designed to achieve nearly zero energy building standard according to the Bulgarian legislation. The transparent facade elements are with a due East, West or South orientation at 3.00 m height from the floor to the ceiling.
The glazing units developed within the InDeWaG project and installed in the pavilion use circulating water in the chamber between the glass panes to capture solar radiation and transport the generated heat through a pipe system for different purposes such as heating, preheating, domestic hot water, storage or dissipation of excess energy. Via a circulation of heated or cooled water within the glass chamber in the window the whole facade may act as either a heating or cooling unit.
Inside the demonstrator the space will be divided by interior partition walls also made of glazing elements with circulating water. The temperature of the fluid inside them will be regulated and they will be used as radiant cooling or heating devices providing the conditioning of the inner space. The pavilion itself is meant to be a place for meetings, workshops and seminars as well as a demonstrational pavilion. It will be equipped with a monitoring system, which will show in real time the behavior of the WFG and the energy management system.

The monitoring will include measurements of energy gains and demand during the whole year, validation by means of real data of mathematical models for internal solar heat distribution, validation of nearly zero energy strategy based on generation of electric energy by photovoltaic panels. The pavilion includes installation of on-site energy generation plant (roof-top photovoltaics), heat pump and energy management system. The Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system consists of a primary circulation circuit between the heat pump and the facade/partition wall elements and a secondary circuit inside each WFG element. The primary circuit transports energy from the heat pump to each WFG element. According to the current demands the heat pump is responsible for both - heating and cooling purposes. Since there is no seasonal heat storage available, energy surplus from the WFG is measured and dissipated. In the same manner, periods of energy demand are measured and the difference between surplus and shortage provide the results for the final annual energy balance.
The pavilion is planned to achieve nearly Zero Energy Building standard according to the Bulgarian definition, where the InDeWaG facades shall have main contribution. The demonstrator will be constructed in the campus of the Bulgarian Academy of Science (BAS) located in Sofia, Mladost region. Expected opening is planned for the spring of 2018. The monitoring and operation of the pavilion will be the responsibility of the Central Laboratory for Solar Energy and New Energy Sources (CL SENES), one of InDeWaG's project partners.