Abstract Modern office buildings often have large glazed areas. Incident solar radiation can lead to large cooling demands during hot periods although the solar radiation can help reduce heating demands during cool periods.Previous studies have shown that large parts of the net energy demand of an office building is related to window heat loss and cooling demands induced by solar irradiance. In this article, the authors found that, even in what traditionally has been considered to be a heating-dominated climate, cooling demands dominate the net energy demand of an office building. Solar shading systems are vital to reduce the cooling…