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Studies on the optimum double-skin curtain wall design for high-rise buildings in the Mediterranean climate
... Many studies have investigated thermal behaviour, ventilation (Ahmadi et al., 2022;Barbosa & Ip, 2016;Bugenings et al., 2022;Hashemi et al., 2010;Souza et al., 2018;Stazi et al., 2020a;Tao et al., 2020a;Yoon et al., 2019), and energy performance (Ahriz et al., 2022;Alberto et al., 2017;Blanco et al., 2016;Kim et al., 2018;Krstić-Furundžić et al., 2019;Larsen et al., 2015;Pomponi et al., 2016;Saroglou et al., 2020;Wang et al., 2021) of various DSF systems in cold, Mediterranean, tropical, and moderate climates. For instance, Krstić-Furundžić et al. investigated the effects of several DSF scenarios with different types of shading devices to improve an office building's energy performance in a moderate continental climate (Krstić-Furundžić et al., 2019). ...
... Moreover, Saroglou et al. compared the energy-thermal performance of different DSF air cavity widths for high-rise buildings in the Mediterranean climate. Their results showed that by increasing the depths of the middle cavity of DSF systems from 0.5 m to 1 m, the annual energy consumption could be reduced by 4% (Saroglou et al., 2020). ...
... Meanwhile, a limited number of research have analyzed the effects of spatial configurations of double-skin facades with varying cavity depths on the penetration of daylight performance (Aksamija, 2018;Roberts et al., 2023;Saroglou et al., 2020;Shameri et al., 2013;Srisamranrungruang & Hiyama, 2020;Zhang et al., 2022). For example, a study conducted by Shameri et al. (Shameri et al., 2013) investigated the effects of DSF systems with varying cavity depths and window-to-wall ratios (WWR) on the daylighting and energy performance of an office building under tropical climate conditions. ...
Worldwide, office buildings account for almost one-third of global energy consumption. Therefore, the energy retrofit design of office buildings could reduce total energy consumption. Considering the benefits of advanced facade systems, retrofit facade design is an effective strategy for energy conservation while improving daylight performance, occupant well-being, and productivity. This paper compares the daylight and energy performance of single and double-skin facade systems used in a typical office building in a hot climate with different space layouts. The main objective is to optimize the daylight and energy performance of various facade systems in combination with a wide range of design variables. Simulations were conducted in DesignBuilder software using a multi-objective optimization approach. Eleven design variables and 103 simulations were considered with the objective of enhancing daylight performance while reducing cooling and lighting loads. Based on the results, single-skin facade configurations could enhance daylight performance significantly compared to double-skin facades, while double-skin facades performed better by reducing the risk of glare and annual energy consumption. Using single and double-skin facade systems could reduce annual total energy consumption by 50% and 60% compared to the existing building.
... The above relationships have a direct effect on heating and cooling loads in relation to height [45,46]. Previous research on the high-rise typology highlighted the issue of increased height in relation to all other construction, and how it affects the structure's energy performance [47][48][49][50], the wind regime created at ground level and the surrounding urban fabric; affecting pedestrian thermal perception and movement [51]. ...
... This relationship is relevant to the specific climatic conditions of the building's location, and in high-rise buildings also becomes relevant to the changing microclimate with height [45,46]. Previous studies have confirmed the importance of the thermal properties of the materials of the building envelope on energy loads, with a focus on the high-rise office and residential typologies, based on thermal simulations [49,87,88]. This study draws conclusions on the appropriateness of a typical residential tower design with exposed balconies through on-site monitoring. ...
... The detailing of the DSF façade, however, becomes very important [88,98]. The exterior layer of glass doors could have the possibility of opening and closing subject to the use patterns of the occupants and the changes in environmental variables, while considerably reducing annual energy loads [49,88]. The balcony's outdoor space could act as a greenhouse during winter, warming passively the interior, while during summer the strategic opening of the glass doors alongside dynamic shading could allow for the introduction of natural ventilation within the premises, irrespective of the floor height above ground, reducing cooling loads. ...
This research is part of a wider study on the sustainability of high-rise buildings within the urban environment. The focus here is on wind and temperature stratifications per different height through in situ monitoring on a high-rise residential tower in the Mediterranean climate of Tel Aviv, and their impact on thermal comfort and user safety. The appropriateness of design is discussed in relation to the direct exposure to higher-up wind velocities, the thermal perception of the residents through questionnaires, and the safety and usability of the outdoors space according to height. The potential for advancing the energy efficiency of the structure is also discussed. The study covers a hot and a cold season, focusing on the specificities of the wind regime in the specific climate, through seasonal variations. Results from the monitoring of data confirmed increased wind and gust velocities per building height all year round, reaching the level of danger for the occupants during winter, cancelling, thus a successful operation of the outdoor balcony space. The occupants’ perception and use of the outdoor balcony space per building height were in direct relationship to the increased wind velocities per height. Discussion and conclusions critically evaluate the residential high-rise building typology in the Mediterranean climate through the design of the outdoor balcony space along the height of the envelope. The results set an initial understanding and delineation for future studies, while underlining the complications of designing and occupying tall buildings and the level of detailing required.
... The former includes i) window features [39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47] (e.g., U-values, glazing types, location, orientation, and window-to-wall ratio (WWR)), ii) integrating shading systems [40][41][42]45,46], iii) building geometry and shape coefficient [44,48], iv) colours of external surfaces [40], and v) considering climate conditions [49]. The construction-related strategies employed by the reviewed studies include i) the use of double skin façade (DSF) [50,51], and ii) thermal insulation for exterior walls [40,42,44]. The results reported by the reviewed studies underline the considerable improvements achieved in the energy performance of highrise buildings by optimising building envelopes. ...
... 42% energy-savings achieved for total building energy use performance by optimising glazing type, WWR, shading, and roofing systems. Saroglou et al. [51] Tel Aviv, Israel ...
... The approaches adopted by the reviewed studies for implementing BIM at the design stage of high-rise buildings can be generally categorised into four groups i) optimisation approach [57,95,96,99], ii) sensitivity analysis [44,45,52,58,62,63], iii) parametric optimization approach [39,[41][42][43]46,[48][49][50][51]53], and iv) devising frameworks. The first three approaches have been commonly used to improve cases' energy efficiency performance and increase renewable energy production. ...
High-rise buildings consume more energy and have greater environmental impacts, emphasising the need to adopt best practices during the design stage concerning BIM employment. However, despite strong support from the literature, little is known about the applications of BIM in high-rise buildings at the early design stage. Therefore, this paper aims to provide a holistic understanding of the current applications of BIM in high-rise buildings by analysing 60 studies. The findings identified seven research themes, including studies that used BIM for i) optimising building energy efficiency design; ii) collaborative design and planning; iii) life-cycle assessment; iv) designing net-zero energy buildings; v) integrating BIM with smart technologies for designing high-rise buildings; vi) cost analysis, and vii) structural design of high-rise buildings. Furthermore, this study highlights a number of challenges hindering the widespread application of BIM, alongside providing potential directions for the future development of BIM employment in high-rise buildings. 1. Background The recent report by International Energy Agency introduced the building sector as one of the main contributors to global energy consumption and carbon emissions in 2021 [1]. Based on this report, the total final energy use in buildings increased from 115 Exajoule in 2010 to approximately 135 Exajoule in 2021 worldwide [1]. This constitutes the overall shares of the building sector in global energy consumption and total carbon emissions of 30% and 27%, respectively [1]. This is largely driven by the increasing world population and its attendant effects on growing demands for energy, followed by improving access to energy in developing countries, greater ownership and use of energy-consuming appliances, and rapid migration to cities [1]. The energy consumption in the building sector is also expected to increase further in the next decades due to the growing world population. The United Nations projected that the world's population would increase by 2 billion in the next 30 years, e.g., from 7.7 billion to 9.7 billion by 2050, reaching nearly 11 billion by 2100 [2]. Therefore, the impending challenge would be the development of enough settlements in the next decades to accommodate the increasing world population. This may become even more serious for countries where land scarcity is already a pressuring challenge. In this regard, one of the viable measures to tackle this challenge is to construct high-rise buildings. Many descriptions have been presented to characterise high-rise or tall buildings [5,7]. In one of the well-established definitions given by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH), high-rise buildings are defined as those with more than 14-storeys (or with heights over than 50 m and less than 300 m), while buildings with heights more than 300 m and 600 m are considered as "super-tall" and "mega-tall", respectively [3]. Amid the heated debates for reinforcing sustainable development and urban compactness, combined with the housing urgency and the arrival of new technologies, the interest for residing in high-rise buildings is increasing. Currently, approximately 36 million European households live in high-rise buildings, i.e., one in six of all households [8]. In Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore are distinguished by their high-rise public housing developments. Based on the data published by CTBUH, there are currently 6588 buildings with heights of more than 150 m; 2006 buildings with more than 200 m, and 204 buildings with over 300 m worldwide [9]. These buildings are constructed in over sixty countries. Among all, China has the highest 2 number of high-rise buildings in the world with more than 4100 buildings that are over 150 m, followed by the U.S., South Korea, and UAE (Fig. 1) [9]. With almost half of the world population living in urban areas, the unfolding trend is towards a more urban-style development with taller buildings being considered as an inevitable housing solution in the future. High-rise buildings are known to be more energy-consuming with greater environmental impacts. This is echoed in the findings of Stead-man [10] that investigated the carbon emissions and electricity use of 610 high-rise and low-rise office buildings in the UK. The findings revealed that high-rise buildings' electricity usage and carbon emissions were higher than low-rise buildings by two and a half times and two times, respectively. This is aligned with the findings of Godoy-Shimizu et al. [11] that analysed the association between operational energy use and the height of 611 office buildings in England and Wales. The results showed that increasing buildings' height from five storeys and below to 21 storeys and above led to increasing the mean intensity of electricity and fossil fuel usage by 137% and 42% respectively, while the mean carbon emissions can be more than doubled. The increase in energy use of high-rise buildings can be related to the higher exposure of high-rise buildings to lower temperatures, stronger winds and more solar exposure, as suggested by Godoy-Shimizu et al. [11]. The higher capacity of tall buildings for energy consumption underlines the need of adapting best practices during the design stage to minimise energy use and environmental impacts of high-rise buildings throughout the entire buildings' lifecycle. In this regard, building information modelling (BIM) is an auspicious approach that has appeared strongly over the recent decades to support decision-making during the design stage of project lifecycle [12,13]. The concept of BIM is an overarching term used to characterise various activities in object-oriented Computer-Aided Design (CAD), aiming to provide a better representation of geometric and non-geometric (e.g., functional) attributes of building elements as well as their associated relationships [12-14]. Adopting BIM in the architecture , engineering, and construction (AEC) industry has proven effective in enhancing inter-organisational collaborations while contributing to the bettering design, construction, and maintenance practices across the industry [12]. The initial utilisation of digital tools can be traced back to the 1970s when 2D designs were used to share architectural plans via CAD. Still, only in the early 2000s did the concept of BIM gain momentum [12]. The BIM models created possibilities for incorporating informational textures associated with objects (e.g., construction materials) into the functional designs developed by practitioners [4,12]. Nowadays, BIM is regarded as a promising solution to facilitate the management and integration of project information throughout the entire project lifecycle [12], thus assisting with optimising the use of design data for buildings' performance analysis and realising sustainable designs [15]. The definition of BIM may vary depending on the model's content, its application, and also the analysis set to be carried out. The U. S. national BIM standard comprehensively defines BIM as the process of developing digital models of a given facility aiming to visualise, and perform engineering analysis, conflict analysis, compliance code checking, cost engineering, as-built product, and budgeting [16]. In another definition, Smith and Tardif [17] defined BIM as a mechanism to transfer data into information with the purpose of generating knowledge that further enables users to make informed decisions. Sackey et al. [18] described BIM as a socio-technical system due to its characteristics which are composed of both technical dimensions such as 3D modelling, and aspects with social impacts such as process re-engineering. Therefore, BIM is a multi-layered concept providing a shared data repository that can effectively support decision-making throughout the project lifecycle. This study aims to explore the current applications of BIM during the early stages of building design, looking closely at the current exploitations of this approach for the delivery of high-rise buildings.
... The height and type of the building that a double skin façade is applied to may impact the ventilation and thermal performance of a DSF itself. In some cases, the DSF vent is the same as the height of the building, for example with multi-storey configurations, but it is more common that the DSF vent height is equal to only one-storey [74,84]. explored the relationship between wind speed and pressure and the height of DSF high-rise office buildings in Tel Aviv, Israel and a 25-storey apartment block in Daejeon, South Korea through EnergyPlus, respectively. ...
... rate in the channel increases with cavity width and stack effect increases, with a maximum impact when the cavity width is 20-30 cm [31]. Some of the more recent studies in this sample further confirm this exact relationship between cavity depth and DSF performance [84]. found that for a corridor-type DSF for high rise buildings in Tel-Aviv, Israel, increasing the cavity width from 0.2 m (m) to 0.5 m, cooling loads decrease significantly, but there are still substantial reductions with 0.5 m-1.0 m and 1.0 m-2.0 m. ...
... The highest natural ventilation rate is achieved with bigger air supply vent size, lower installation height and narrower aspect ratio [125]. also looked at the importance of aspect ratio on DSF performance, but also parameters such as opening-to-glazing ratio and solar heat gain [72] Box-window NV South-West Laboratory [116] Box-window NV South Theoretical [79] Box-window NV South-West Office [80] Multi-storey NV South Office [81] Box-window NV & MV North Office [82] Box-window NV All Experimental Test Room [83] Box-window NV Sunshine-oriented Theoretical [84] Corridor NV & MV All High-rise Office [24] Box-window MV All Office [85] Multi-storey NV South Office [86] Box-window MV South Experimental Test Room [88] Box-window NV & MV South Experimental Chamber [89] Box-window NV South Theoretical Model Room [117] Box-window NV Sunshine-oriented Experimental [90] Box-window NV South and North Office [91] Box-window NV Sunshine-oriented Office [92] Box-window NV Sunshine-oriented Experimental Test Cell coefficient(SHGC) for a dynamic operating DSF on an office building in Korea. The results for summer conditions indicate that a higher SHGC increases incoming airflow rate, and a cooling effect is greater when cavity depth increases to 0.9 m. ...
Double skin facades are a popular research area but by no means a completed one. This review highlights the reasons why perhaps research topic popularity and flexibility does not always yield commercial results in industry. It is intended to be used as a tool for researchers to access a synopsis of double skin façade research as it currently stands in the 21st century and differentiates itself from other review articles by exploring the nexus of factors affecting ventilation and thermal performance and building integration of double skin façade systems. A sample of over 100 papers dated between 2000 and 2021 were selected through the identification, screening, and refinement stages of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) review method to organise the research into a systematic categorisation dependent on a range of parameters affecting double skin façade performance. This meta-analysis resulted in tabular summaries in each relevant section to provide an overview of the specific design factors affecting ventilation and thermal performance or building integration. Additionally, key trends in methodology, climate, and operation conditions were identified resulting in original graphical figures. The predominant closing remark of this review is that there is no singular definition, design or configuration of a double skin façade, there are multiple methodologies for assessing its performance as a heating, cooling, fresh air or energy generation technology and it is highly dependent on changing climate, geometry, building application and materials. As a result, there is presently no standardised way of assessing the viability of a double skin façade system from a technical, economic, and environmental perspective, and therefore could be the missing link between this popular research area, and greater real-world application in the global built environment.
... There are four types of double-skin façade depending on the airflow path and ventilation system ( Figure 9) [34,106,107]. In mode A, room air circulates in the air duct, passing into the HVAC system. ...
... The double-skin façade is also classified according to internal geometry. The classification is presented in works [107][108][109][110][111][112], visually represented in Figure 10. ...
... The study's outcome has shown that the Trombe wall has not been studied for highrise buildings, in contrast to the double-skin façade ( [107,123] and others). ...
The development of energy-efficient technologies at all stages of a building's life cycle is essential to achieving sustainable development goals. The object of the study is climate-adaptive façade structures with air gaps in the form of a Trombe wall and a double-skin façade. Cases using phase-change materials (PCM) and photovoltaic modules (PV) in climate-adaptive structures are analyzed separately. The research method is aimed to review and analyze the energy-saving potential from integrating the Trombe wall or double-skin façade in buildings. The work systematizes full-scale, physical, and mathematical experiments. Articles from Scopus and Web of Science systems from 2001 to 2022 inclusive were subject to consideration. The article presents a statistical analysis given by the scientific community on the current topic's dynamics. The study's significance is characterized by a lack of knowledge on the behavior of the mentioned façade systems in various climate zones and for different buildings types. The results have shown that comprehensive studies on the investigated systems are significant and can serve for further designs and energy efficiency improvements. For the first time, a scientometric analysis of articles on the topic "Climate-adaptive façades" was compiled.
... As a next step towards achieving further reduction of cooling energy, an investigation on different DSF cavity widths was conducted [15], while the simulated DSF configuration was the optimum solution for the Mediterranean climate described above. The outcome was in favour of wider DSF cavities for hot climates, by reducing cooling loads that are relevant to these climates. ...
... Moreover, most DSF research is conducted in cold and moderate climates [18], with only a few case studies in hot climates [19][20][21]. DSF research in hot climates is vital due to the higher levels of direct and diffuse solar radiation that enters the glazed This paper is part of a wider research on high-rise energy efficiency with a focus on the building envelope, and its relationship with the climate and microclimate of the building's location [7,14,15]. The studies take place in the Mediterranean climate of Tel Aviv, and can also be relevant for other cities with similar climate, i.e., in the Mediterranean coastal plane and the Middle East, that show similar processes of tall building development [22]. ...
... The proposed DSF glazing configuration is with: LowE double-glazing as the exterior layer (No.3), an air cavity in the middle (No.2), and single glazing as the interior façade layer (No.1) [14]. The energy efficiency of the proposed DSF for the hot and humid climate of Tel Aviv is then studied in relation to the efficiency of natural ventilation for different cavity widths with the aim to reduce cooling loads even further; initial results of this study are published in [15]. Varying DSF widths is a common practice and is especially prominent in tall building construction. ...
Tall buildings around the world are increasing at an accelerating pace. However, this fast-pace development is not in tandem with today’s environmental considerations towards reducing high carbon emissions, mainly relating to the building sector (close to 50% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions). The vast scale and energy demands of tall buildings call for an in-depth study of this building typology towards improving energy efficiency. An important consideration for lowering energy demands is the configuration of the building envelope that acts as the mediator between indoor and outdoor conditions, according to the climate and microclimate of the building’s location. Current architectural practices of fully glazed curtain wall envelopes make this relationship problematic, by resulting in high-energy loads for achieving thermal comfort. Over the last few years, a step forward towards energy efficiency is the use of a double-skin façade (DSF). Its application, however, is lacking consideration of the specific climatic conditions that will essentially result in an energy efficient design. Previous research revealed that the most energy efficient DSF in the Mediterranean climate is with LowE glazing as the outside DSF layer. Further studies on DSF cavity width for a hot climate, were in favour of wider cavities, as these reduce the high cooling loads that are associated with this climate. Additionally, simulations of an office building in the Mediterranean climate, confirmed that cooling energy is also present during winter (airtight DSF), suggesting for a more active DSF envelope design throughout the year. A further study is then conducted through simulations, where the DSF design alternates between an open / closed DSF, and comparisons are made in relation to DSF width, building height above ground, outdoor environmental conditions and interior thermal comfort, for further improving the energy efficiency of tall building design.
... Examples of previous activities using BES tools to replicate the thermal behaviour of these façade systems includes simulations of almost the large spectrum of construction possibilities (e.g. [13,14]), as well as analysis of the advantages of DSF against single-skin façades [15,16]. In some cases [13,14,17,18], BES tools have been used to investigate the impact of the DSF's configuration on the thermal performance of the building. ...
... [13,14]), as well as analysis of the advantages of DSF against single-skin façades [15,16]. In some cases [13,14,17,18], BES tools have been used to investigate the impact of the DSF's configuration on the thermal performance of the building. More parametric studies can be found in the litera- In these studies, the parametric analysis is most typically focused on just one or a small number of parameters (e.g. ...
... While a local sensitivity analysis is suitable to give information on the relative order of importance of different parameters, a parametric analysis, e.g. [14,18], is more suitable to investigate the optimal design choices within a given domain of possibilities. In an ideal design or research process, the sensitivity analysis is developed prior to the parametric analysis to initially reduce the numbers of parameters that later need to be investigated by identifying those that have a larger impact on the selected simulation output. ...
Double skin façades (DSFs) are considered façade technologies that can reduce energy use and improve occupant comfort due to their advanced features. Their design requires reliable simulations due to their complex thermophysical behaviour, which are often carried out by practitioners using building energy software (BES) tools. Using an exhaust-air façade (also called climate façade) case study, the paper analyses the sensitivity of in-built DSF models in two popular BES tools (EnergyPlus and IDA ICE) for different orientations and climates. Small variations in input variables were considered to identify the parameters that the designer should pay most attention to during the design of the DSF according to different performance indicators. The results show that, regardless of the climate or orientation, the optical properties of the system (glazing and shading) were the most important in determining its performance, followed by the thermal properties of the glazing, while the geometrical, airflow and frame characteristics were less relevant. The model validation process also showed how differences in the in-built models (i.e. the use of a capacitance node for the glazed layers) lead to a difference in the reliability of the two BES tools.
... All the case studies with the proposed SSF systems (Cases 3-7) always return positive values of both PES (~10.5% in all cases) and ΔCO2 (~2.0 tonCO2,eq in all cases) when compared to the reference case; this means that all the proposed materials used for refurbishment cases allow for the reduction of both primary energy consumption and carbon dioxide equivalent emissions for the current building status; these findings align with those previously reported in [20,21,28,33]. In particular, Figures 10-12, as well as Table 5, highlight the following: ...
... In Case 2, the simulation results returned a value of PES equal to 1.39% and a ∆CO 2 value equal to 0.27 ton CO2,eq ; these results were achieved thanks to a 21.5% reduction in cooling energy demand despite a 5.4% increase in energy demand during the heating period compared to the reference case (Case 0); these findings are consistent with those documented in [19]. • All the case studies with the proposed SSF systems (Cases 3-7) always return positive values of both PES (~10.5% in all cases) and ∆CO 2 (~2.0 ton CO2,eq in all cases) when compared to the reference case; this means that all the proposed materials used for refurbishment cases allow for the reduction of both primary energy consumption and carbon dioxide equivalent emissions for the current building status; these findings align with those previously reported in [20,21,28,33]. ...
The building sector accounts for 30% of worldwide final energy usage and 26% of global energy-linked emissions. In construction, innovative materials and systems can offer flexible, lightweight, energy-efficient solutions to achieve more efficient buildings. This study addresses the energy analysis and environmental impacts of retrofitting residential buildings in Monterusciello, Italy, using an innovative second-skin façade system design that incorporates 3D-printed and fabric modules. The purpose is to enhance energy efficiency and reduce the environmental impact of residential buildings originally constructed with prefabricated elements that have degraded over time. This research employed TRNSYS modelling to simulate energy consumption and environmental impacts at the single-building and whole-district levels, analysing the system’s effectiveness in reducing cooling and heating demands and using different materials for optimal performance. The results show that retrofitting with the second-skin façade system significantly reduces cooling energy demand by 30.2% and thermal energy demand by 3.84%, reaching a primary energy saving of 16.4% and 285 tons of CO2 emissions reduction for the whole district. The results highlight the potential of second-skin façade systems in improving energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, suggesting future research directions in material innovation and adaptive system development for district-wide applications.
... BIM tools also grant a proper platform for implementing additional features for performance assessment into a building model [69]. Table A4 (as shown in Appendix A) shows the recent work performed in BIM, especially in buildings [70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78]. ...
... High-rise building energy consumption [75] 8 ...
Building façades represent one of the most critical elements affecting a city’s quality of life, and they impact the country’s economic income by attracting visitors. However, performance data on façades are limited or incomplete, making it challenging for designers to evaluate their effectiveness in energy efficiency, thermal performance, durability, and other key performance metrics. This paper presents a comprehensive framework for evaluating and prioritizing material selection criteria in building cladding, establishing the relationship with available alternatives, and integrating decision-making processes with Building Information Modeling (BIM) to automate the Value Engineering (VE) concept. The material selection criteria from the literature and international standard manual were identified, and their criteria weight was then evaluated using SWARA (stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis). Additionally, WASPAS (weighted aggregated sum product assessment) was utilized to evaluate the alternative cladding materials based on the defined criteria and their associated quality weight (QW). The life cycle cost (LCC) of the alternatives was computed. The VE was computed and then ranked based on the QW and LCC of the alternatives. The procedure was connected to the BIM model to automate the assessment, specifying the necessary parameters and the BIM computation. A case study of an office building façade was conducted to validate the proposed framework. In this study, the significant criteria were durability, wind load resistance, and thermal insulation. This approach enables executives to evaluate cladding selection, ensuring efficient decision-making processes. The proposed method and its results were subjected to expert testing, and the satisfaction rate exceeded 80%, confirming the framework’s reliability in evaluating alternatives. This paper enhances the understanding of material selection methodologies and provides a valuable contribution to the field of construction management.
... This could be an effective solution for local floors where elevators have problems of excessive pressure difference but where it is unsuitable to set additional partitions (e.g., lobby). Since high-rise buildings are usually enveloped by a curtain wall [37], a locally improved airtightness envelope can be conveniently achieved by identifying and better sealing off the air paths of the curtain wall [38], and such local improvement (i.e., from level 2 to level 4 for envelope airtightness) is more economical than overall airtightness strengthening of the whole building [20]. elevators have problems of excessive pressure difference but where it is unsuitable to set additional partitions (e.g., lobby). ...
... elevators have problems of excessive pressure difference but where it is unsuitable to set additional partitions (e.g., lobby). Since high-rise buildings are usually enveloped by a curtain wall [37], a locally improved airtightness envelope can be conveniently achieved by identifying and better sealing off the air paths of the curtain wall [38], and such local improvement (i.e., from level 2 to level 4 for envelope airtightness) is more economical than overall airtightness strengthening of the whole building [20]. ...
The stack effect in high-rise buildings, stemming from an inside/outside temperature difference, may produce a significant pressure difference on the elevator doors, potentially causing elevator malfunctions. This effect can also be influenced by wind action and human behaviors, e.g., opening/closing of building entrances. In this study, a wind tunnel test was conducted to determine the real wind pressure distribution on a high-rise building in northern China. A numerical simulation utilizing the Conjunction of Multizone Infiltration Specialists software (COMIS) was carried out to investigate the pressure difference of elevator doors under the effects of thermal buoyancy, wind action, and opening/closing of the first-floor lobby entrance. An alternative solution of a locally strengthened envelope is proposed and validated for the studied building zone. The study reveals that the opening of the first-floor lobby entrance increases the pressure difference regardless of the environmental conditions, and the increase of wind speed tends to increase the pressure difference in winter but decrease it in summer. The proposed countermeasure combination, involving using revolving doors instead of swing doors, increasing additional partitions, and strengthening the local building envelope, was found to be synergistic and effective in reducing the pressure difference inside the building. The research findings offer practical engineering solutions for mitigating elevator door pressure challenges in high-rise buildings.
... -the proposed shading devices, the most influential envelope factor of the cases, led to cooling energy decrease by about 30%, both for the office tower and the residential towers. [40] Tel Aviv, (Csa) ...
... Compared to the single skin envelope alternative of an office HRB case in the Mediterranean climate of Tel Aviv [16], revealed that a ventilated double skin façade design with the LowE glazing as the exterior layer led to cooling load reduction by an average of 50%. To further enhancing the performance of this case, authors also studied the influence of different DSF widths, showing that by increasing the cavity width from 0.2 m to 0.5 m, cooling loads decrease up to 11%, [40]. In an almost opposite climatic context, where the heating loads are dominant [41], revealed that integrating a DSF system to a residential HRB in South Korea would led to a reduction in heating energy up to 30%. ...
Heightening population density and expanding urbanization has increased the need for constructing high-rise buildings due to land shortage. Many efforts have been done to design or retrofit high-rises in an energy efficient and sustainable way to decrease their significant environmental impacts. A high number of studies have been conducted on reducing the energy demand or carbon emission of High-Rise Buildings (HRB). This paper presents a review of 48 previous studies regarding energy and carbon performance of HRBs during 2005–2020 in different climatic contexts. Results showed great potential of reducing energy consumption of high-rises by enhancing envelope design parameters (up to 78.9%), optimizing plan layout (up to 17%), and utilizing natural ventilation (up to 45%). Furthermore, reviewed researches proposed a number of methods to reduce operational (up to 25%) and embodied (up to 60%) carbon emissions, mostly by enhancing envelope heat transfer coefficient and using recycled materials, respectively. Efforts have been also made for achieving net-zero energy in high-rises by integrating renewable energies. Eventually, research gaps and future study potentials are presented. Categorized results of this review would help designers to identify the most influential design parameters of high-rises regarding energy consumption and carbon emission.
... PD strategies are essential for achieving building sustainability, given their proven influence on building performance in both energy and indoor environmental aspects [22]. The building envelope is crucial for reducing energy loads [23]. ...
... A DSF could improve the energy efficiency of the building. It allows the interaction of the building with the public realm and the surroundings [23]. There should be no doubt regarding whether it is more convenient to use a DSF instead of a single façade in the winter. ...
The existing public buildings in Serbia provide many opportunities for energy-efficient improvements and energy savings. Based on a computer simulation using the SketchUp and EnergyPlus software packages, the energy consumption of existing primary schools in Niš, Serbia. The parametric study included interventions on the building envelope (thermal insulation, glazing characteristics), as well as using of Trombe wall (TW), double skin façade (DSF), and green roof (GR), Blinds (BL) as a representative of passive design (PD) strategies. This study aims to determine the most favorable combination of proposed interventions as a strategy for improving the energy efficiency of existing school buildings. Outputs from the analysis are evaluated to find out which measures are the best for heating and cooling energy savings during the whole school year. Based on the obtained results, the study proposes a combination of alternatives that yielded the highest and lowest energy savings for heating and cooling.
... In this paper, the energy efficiency of a naturally ventilated double-skin envelope is studied in relation to the energy efficiency of the high-rise building typology in general, with a focus on reducing the high cooling loads prevalent in this and other humid climates. The methodology draws on the conclusions from two previous publications (Saroglou et al. 2019(Saroglou et al. & 2020, and investigates further an optimum DSF design for energy efficiency according to climatic conditions, building height, and interior thermal comfort. ...
... The simulated DSF cavity widths are: 0.2, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 meters deep, at 9, 167, and 339 meters' height. An initial analysis of the results of this study was published (Saroglou et al. 2020). Energy load reductions, both for heating and cooling, are recorded when increasing the cavity width, with a focus on cooling, as heating loads are very low to begin with. ...
... In addition, the 1m-cavity gap of the DSF allows for sufficient space for cleaning, as dust levels are high in hot dryland environments. In terms of energy performance, a wide cavity has increased air volume, that allows for significant precooling of the air during summer, leading to reductions in cooling demand, mostly appropriate for hot climates (Balocco, 2002;Hamza, 2008;Papadaki, Papantoniou and Kolokotsa, 2014;Saroglou et al., 2020). ...
... The AFN methodology is analyzed in depth in a previous publication (Saroglou et al., 2019). Results of Phase 1 are first published in (Saroglou et al., 2020). The efficiency of the DSF is essentially measured in kWh per month, per thermal zone of 460m 2 . ...
... This can be achieved with high-performance building envelope solutions, such as ventilated facades (VF) or vertical greenery systems (VGS) [7,8]. These solutions are some of the most effective ways of reducing excessive radiant heat in summer [9][10][11]. ...
... Additionally, incorporating a naturally ventilated cavity on all orientations of the building in tropical rainforest climate would decrease the cooling load over conventional single-skin façades by up to more than 46%, as stated by Ayegbusi et al., [58]. Saroglou et al., [59] demonstrated that naturally ventilated DSF in hot and Mediterranean climates could save up to 50% of energy when combined with one-meter to two-meter cavity depth and low-e glazing on the interior and exterior layers of the façade. Also, Alberto et al., [60] found that a multi-story DSF with a one-meter cavity depth was the most efficient in a mild climate. ...
Double skin façade (DSF) has emerged as a decisive strategy for improving building thermal performance and energy efficiency. In various climatic conditions, DSF will perform differently and accordingly. However, the whole building performance of the DSF has never been studied in a broad climatic condition. As a result, there will be a high risk that the system will underperform conventional façade. This study adopted a quantitative approach with computational simulation software, EnergyPlus, to analyze the thermal behavior and energy efficiency of both single skin façade (SSF) and DSF systems. The investigation focused on an overall Köppen classified tropical climate category, which encompasses tropical rainforest (Af), tropical monsoon (Am), tropical savanna with dry winter (Aw), and tropical savanna with dry summer (As) climates. The primary finding indicates that the SSF in various tropical-classified groups exhibits diverse thermal behaviors throughout the year, from month to month and from orientation to orientation. The climate of each tropical classification distinctly influences the performance of both façades. The air temperature and relative humidity in both SSF and DSF office zones remained within a predictable range throughout the year. Thermal behavior and energy consumption fluctuated considerably on a monthly basis but only marginally on an annual basis. This similarity explains how buildings in the four cities consumed distinctly comparable cooling energy consumptions. The study also indicates that, even without a shading device, the DSF could still outperform the conventional facades. In all climatic contexts, energy consumption for cooling could be diminished by more than 40%, and the air temperature in the office zones was decreased to around 4°C while relative humidity was increased by 1% to 5%. Hence, an appropriate DSF design could be employed on office buildings in the overall classified tropical climates to attain energy efficiency through thermal enhancement from the façade’s second layers.
... There are only a few existing research studies, which deal with the geometrical aspects of the building skin in high-rises [11,12]. Thus, further in-depth investigations are still needed on the envelope geometrical design factors, for instance, the perforation and morphological structure of the façade, which can make high-rise office buildings more energy efficient. ...
The design of the envelope in high-rise office buildings is a task of great importance as it can impact the entire building's energy performance. The study presented in this paper is an extension of a previous work reporting on the optimization of the façade and the shading systems of an east-west facing high-rise office building. This study aims to investigate the façade geometry design factors for other potential orientations, e.g., south, south-east, and south-west directions. The IDA ICE 4.8 complex dynamic building energy simulation program was used to assess thermal and lighting simulations. The optimization results revealed the best-performing façade configurations, appropriate for each orientation examined in terms of thermal comfort, visual comfort, and energy consumption.
... Brief Description 1. Passive Cooling It is a building design approach that focuses on controlling heat gain and heat dissipation to improve thermal comfort in a space with or without energy consumption [18]. This can be achieved through ventilation, thermal mass, building envelope and insulation. ...
The high amount of energy consumption in residential buildings can considerably be reduced by adopting passive design strategies (PDS), for its positive impact on the environment by reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions, cost savings and provide occupants’ comfort. This paper summarized the outcomes from a structured literature review. Five broad types of PDS were identified, targeting reduced energy consumption, improved comfort, indoor air quality and materials used. The study also revealed sets of motivators and challenges for adopting PDS. The most common challenges to adopting PDS are high initial cost, lack of expertise and lack of rules and regulations. Also, it was found that the key motivators to stimulate the adoption of PDS include energy efficiency, financial benefits and occupant comfort, health and well-being. This will form the basis for exploring the degree of benefits of considering certain PDS features in residential buildings and their consequent selection/use in specific climate zone, with relevant adjustments to incorporate any local context and priority. The outcomes of this paper are also expected to contribute to raising awareness among stakeholders to increasingly practice PDS considering their relevant benefits, and gradually move to their adoption.
... As its popularity grown, the double layer wall not only caught the attention in the cold countries but also in hot and warm countries in the 2000s since there were many experiments conducted and provided a lot of positive results with the system [6]. In the recent decade, there were many applications of double skin façades adopted in a so call warm climate worldwide [17]. The most remarkable one might have been the Shanghai Tower in China with the largest detachment between the outer curtain wall system and the inner main structure at 15 meters [18]. ...
To obtain optimal efficacy toward energy saving in buildings, numerous approaches have been persistently developed and innovated. Double Skin Façade (DSF), one of the keys to energy efficiency and thermal enhancement, is increasingly drawing attention from designers and researchers in speculating its benefits. Nowadays, there are still some doubts about the performance of DSF as it provides pros and cons. Therefore, this review provides a deep understanding of the composition of DSF and its performance, and its startling gaps among researchers toward green building within the built environment. The research studies present evidence of the potential of DSF in various applications with the proper design scheme. However, location and climatic conditions are the most important factors to consider when it comes to designing DSF for building envelopes. Otherwise, the system not only mandates a higher investment cost on double structuring but also higher demand for energy consumption. The findings additionally indicate that DSF has also left some uncertainties on its positive impact within the extensive tropical climate, since there are inadequate studies conducted, such as lighting, heat transfer and ventilation, etc. Accordingly, the system requires more rigorous investigation to be profoundly employed.
... Air ventilation present is usually actively induced or, in some cases, naturally due to the stack effect. The double-skin walls are usually found in hot regions as there help to cool buildings and improve the level of thermal comfort [64]. ...
Residential buildings help to facilitate the occupants against solar radiation and adverse weather conditions. However, the growing increase in climate change in our environment has resulted in different side effects on human’s health mostly in the northern region of Nigeria and other parts of the world where high radiation from the sun are experience. This has resulted to the key interests of this research on possible thermal insulation materials that can help resist or absorb the solar radiation effects that can cause damage to lives in our community. This literature review of thermal insulation materials aims to proffer a sustainable solution by evaluating the thermal performance of building materials to provide an eco-friendly environment for building occupants. This research also discusses the Application of Thermal Insulation Materials for Developing Roofing sheets. The classification of thermal insulation materials, heat transfer in insulation materials, factors that influence the choice of building materials and thermal conductivity, resistivity, resistance, and conductance. Advantages of building insulation materials on economic, comfort, and environmental were also studied, and the reviewing of previous and incorporating thermal insulation materials with roofs. From the critical review, the application of insulating materials for developing building materials is highly recommended due to the provision of an eco-friending environment with reduced energy consumption during applications of home appliances.
... In the optimization setting, the value for maximum generations and convergence was set to 100 and 5, respectively, and the initial population size was 20 with mutation and crossover rate of 1.00; 2-JEA has been used as the engine for optimization. In addition, the comparison method was used to validate the Design-Builder results and verify their accuracy by comparing the obtained results with previous similar research (Krstić-Furundžić, Vujošević, & Petrovski, 2019;Pazouki, Rezaie, & Bozorgiamiri, 2021;Saroglou, Theodosiou, Givoni, & Meir, 2020;Tavakolan, Mostafazadeh, Jalilzadeh Eirdmousa, Safari, & Mirzaei, 2022;Zomorodian & Tahsildoost, 2018). The study's methodological framework consisted of the following five steps, as shown in Figure 1: ...
In recent decades, the energy retrofit design of buildings has been one of the most effective methods to achieve high-performance buildings. The government office buildings in Iran account for 15% of the non-residential building sector; hence, energy retrofitting of existing office buildings could effectively reduce total energy consumption and Carbon dioxide emissions. This study aims to evaluate the effect of various facade systems with cool materials on the thermal behavior and energy performance of a typical existing office building in a hot climate. The proposed hybrid retrofit method combines design and energy retrofit strategies while evaluating the effects of different workspace layouts and facade systems on external surface temperatures and total energy consumption. Applying such a method, the most optimal design and energy retrofit strategies were selected using a combination of optimization and scenario-based approaches. The results showed that using double-skin facades could reduce annual energy consumption and Carbon dioxide emissions by 63%. Moreover, the results indicated the most efficient types of cool coatings materials for reducing cooling loads.
... The demand for air-conditioned floor space will further increase the electricity consumption and GHG emissions in the building sector [11] as the commercial activities are expected to be increased between 2012 and 2040, which will lead to an average 1.6% annual increase in the building energy demand [10]. In recent years, various energy-efficient glazing and window options, including thermochromic [12], electrochromic [13], doubleskin façade [14], double-pane [15] and triple-pane windows [16], fixed [17] and dynamic shading devices [18], etc., have been explored to minimize the heating and cooling energy usage, particularly in highly glazed buildings. Also, the policy makers, building designers, developers, and researchers have increased their focus on designing and developing energyefficient glazed façades along with other energy-reducing approaches in buildings [19][20][21][22][23][24]. ...
The large size of a glazed component allows greater access to natural light inside and a wider view of the outdoors while protecting the inside from extreme weather conditions. However, glazed components make buildings energy inefficient compared to opaque components if not designed suitably, and sometimes they create glare discomforts too. In order to protect against excessive natural light and direct sunlight and for privacy, dynamic shading devices are integrated into the glazed façade. In this study, the impact of various glazing and shading design parameters has been investigated by performing uncertainty and sensitivity analyses. The uncertainty analysis indicates that the variance coefficients for the source energy use, lighting energy use, useful daylight illuminance (UDI), and shade-deployed time fraction are in the ranges of 15.04–30.47, 39.05–45.06, 40.57–49.92, and 19.35–52%, respectively. The dispersion in the energy and indoor visual performance is evident by the large variation in the source energy consumption and UDI (500–2000), which vary in the ranges of 250–450 kWh/(m2-year) and 5–90%. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis identified the window-to-wall ratio (WWR), aspect ratio (ASR), glazing type (Gt), absorptance of the wall (Aw), and shade transmittance (ST) as major influences of the parameters. Each of the identified parameters has a different proportionate impact depending on the façade orientation and performance parameters.
... Albatayneh [12] used genetic algorithms for the optimization of the building envelope in a residential building in Mediterranean climate. This goal can be achieved with high-performance solutions for the building envelopes, such as ventilated façades [13], which have become one of the most effective measures to reduce the radiation overheating in summer periods [14,15]. One of the main characteristics of these façades is the presence of a ventilated channel created between the internal and external layers of the building envelope [16]. ...
The arrangement of the panels in Open Joint Ventilated Façades (OJVF) is a potential factor in improving the energy efficiency of this building system. The distribution of joints in the façade influences the behaviour of the air flow in the channel which in turn could affect the overall heat exchanges with the envelope and thus the internal conditions of the building. Tiling panels can be installed on ventilated façades with different arrangement patterns according to the layout of the joints: lined up, staggered, stepped, diagonal or random, although manufacturers recommend a façade layout with in-line gaps to avoid costly façade maintenance. Thus, landscape and portrait layout with continuous joints are the most frequent arrangement in ventilated façades. This research assesses the benefit of the installation of OJVF panels in both layouts in order to reduce the cooling loads. Two real OJVFs with different panel arrangements, landscape and portrait, are analysed. Also, they are compared with a conventional façade with a sealed air cavity. All solutions are modelled and simulated using the commercial computational fluid dynamics software ANSYS FLUENT to evaluate the fluid-dynamic and thermal behaviour of the façades in summer and winter conditions. The energy performance of these solutions is evaluated, analysing different parameters such as panel’s temperature, mean air velocity inside the cavity, fluid pathlines through the open joints and thermal flux in the air cavity and to the room. The airflow inside the cavity is mainly driven by thermal buoyancy in all façades but differs from bi-dimensional convective loops in conventional façades to three-dimensional complex and asymmetrical airflows in OJVFs. The results obtained show that both OJVF configurations perform much better than the conventional sealed façade, reducing the heat transfer into the room by 30% in the summer period. In any case, the landscape OJVF façade reduces the transfer in the same period to a minimum value of 7.3 W/m2, which is 3% less than the flux transferred through the vertical one. This small difference in the energy performance of OJVFs makes the choice of panel orientation more based on other criteria such as aesthetics.
... Such buildings with a double facade as City Hall and the Mary Ax skyscraper in London received world fame. The essential advantages of such a facade are energy saving through the use of natural ventilation, preheating of the supply air in winter and the use of solar energy; increasing noise protection of premises in comparison with traditional facades [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. ...
The article considers the significance of the problem of renewable energy and energy saving technology development. The potential of solar and geothermal energy in the Russian Federation, the feasibility of using stable and inexhaustible renewable energy sources for implementation in buildings and structures are discussed. Construction, operation of buildings and structures consume up to half of all generated energy in the world. The efficiency of enclosing structures significantly affects the energy saving of buildings and generates up to 30% of heat losses. Using renewable energy technology in construction is effective with enclosing structures with high thermal insulation characteristics. Territories of the Russian Federation with decentralized energy supply, characterized by low consumer power, lack of access to power grids, lack of fuel, harsh climatic conditions, and low population density, have a high potential for the implementation of renewable energy sources (RES) into the buildings.
... As a result, the study supports that considerable energy saving can be achieved by adapting the building envelope design to the specific location and climate conditions, and by taking advantage of passive strategies, such as natural ventilation of a double skin façade cavity. Drawing from the conclusions of this investigation, a next double-skin façade study [5] aimed at the reduction of the high cooling loads relevant to the Mediterranean climate. The energy efficiency of different double-skin façade cavities was tested by calculations of thermal models. ...
The optimization of high-rise office buildings' envelope and the application of energy-efficient measures have become a priority nowadays. Therefore, this investigation aims to assess the role of the façade's geometry design factors, e.g., folded façade perforation, window orientation, and window-to-wall ratio on building comfort and energy performance. The energy simulations were performed using IDA ICE 4.8 thermal simulation program to evaluate the thermal and visual comfort and the energy consumption of various façade test models. The optimization resulted in a façade model with a great level of thermal and visual comfort as well as a total energy reduction of 14%, representing a good compromise solution in the trade-off between thermal and visual comfort as well as energy efficiency.
... In the last two decades, many energy-efficient solutions have been analyzed to improve the energy performance of the building envelope by adding additional external insulation layers, responsive facade elements, or a second-skin layer [17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. There are two main approaches to improving the energy efficiency of buildings: (i) active or (ii) passive refurbishments [25]. ...
A large amount of the Iranian energy demand is related to the building sector, mainly due to its obsolescence. In this paper, a second-skin system has been implemented as a retrofit action for an office building, evaluating the effect of a tensile material as second-skin in terms of primary energy saving, carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, and simple payback period. The analysis was carried out through numerical simulations across a whole year and for four Iranian cities (Tabriz, Teheran, Yazd, and Bandar Abbas) in four different climates (cold, temperate, hot-dry, and hot-wet), and with the building aligned at either north-south or east-west. Moreover, an economic analysis was carried out suggesting different incentive policies to promote building energy refurbishment. The simulation results highlighted a favorable orientation for buildings in Iran, suggesting a guideline for new constructions. Indeed, the best results were achieved for an east-west orientation of the building (up to a primary energy saving of 13.6% and reduction of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions of
45.5 MgCO2,eq, in Yazd), with a decrease of the annual specific total (cooling and thermal) energy demand of 37.9 kWh/m2/year. The simple payback period values were also lower in the east-west orientation than the north-south one.
... In the literature there are several examples of using CFD to examine the behavior, characteristics, and energy consumption and comfort status of a DSF (Pappas and Zhai 2008, Safer et al. 2005, Ye et al. 1999. Studies on DSF microclimatic thermal comfort are mostly limited to colder and warmer climatic conditions (Alberto et al. 2017, Khalvati and Omidvar 2019, Yang et al. 2020, Saroglou et al. 2020, Guardo et al. 2009). However, the use of multiple or double skin facades in hot summer continental climates is not well documented. ...
This paper demonstrates through a sensitivity analysis, an optimal strategy for completing a CFD simulation of this special building envelope. This study also attempts to research a mechanically ventilated building with DSF configuration—a building in terms of indoor microclimatic thermal comfort. The aim of this study is to work out the effect of wind velocity and wind distribution on naturally ventilated buildings with DSF configuration, to work out if a DSF configuration will provide a far better microclimatic thermal comfort through natural ventilation. This study not only defines and analyzes the dimensional parameters of the air gap to maximize airflows, but also explores the importance of design decisions on system performance, such as the interaction between thermal mass and air gap distances and the building facade.
... A passive building is one in which the indoor environment is not regulated by using a mechanical heating and cooling systems but by means of a conscious structure and architectural design of the building envelope and its components [6]. In recent years, as part of a shift towards more energy-efficient buildings, a lot of different new façades technologies and solutions have been proposed for the improvement of their energy performance by the introduction of better insulation, shading devices, as well as a second-skin layer (Double Skin Façades [11,12], Building Integrated Photovoltaic [13,14] and Opaque Ventilated Façades [15,16]). Among these, the Double-Skin Façade (DSF) and ...
Tensile materials are concurrently becoming more and more utilized in contemporary architecture design, despite a lack of experimental testing and numerical model development to assess their actual effect on the building behavior, even more, if considered integrated in a second-skin system. In this research, the PVC-coated polyester fabric has been selected and tested as tensile second-skin material by using two outdoor comparative test cells to evaluate its performance and to calibrate and validate a numerical model in TRNSYS 18. Then, the validated numerical model has been used in a case study as a second layer in a flexible façade system. In particular, a simulation refurbishment of a typical three-story office building, located in southern Italy, has been investigated with the aim to evaluate its potential benefits from an energy point of view. The results showed that the refurbishment by means of a second-skin system always allows for an energy saving, up to a maximum of 6.1%; also, by exploiting the semi-transparency and the flexibility offered by this material to implement a continuous whole-façade design on the south wall, thus covering with the second-skin both the walls and the openings, the solar gains across the year can be modulated, by minimizing the gains during the summer and maximizing them during the winter, consequently leading to a reduction of the cooling and heating energy demands, for an overall heating energy demand reduction of about 9.8%.
... Many studies have explored the potential to combine natural ventilation with VDSFs. However, the mechanism behind natural ventilation through the façade is still not clear [36,37], and that has hampered the related implementation. To expand the associated application, an understanding of their optimal design and the mechanism behind is critically required. ...
Using a double-skin facade for natural ventilation is not a new idea, but the behind mechanism and impacts of those environmental and designing factors on its performance are still unknown and critically needed. Therefore, through this study, the influences of the façade and room configurations, together with the environmental factor on buoyant-driven natural ventilation, are addressed. An experimentally validated numerical model has been adopted to analyse the airflow characteristics inside the NVDSF and the room caused by combined radiation and natural convection. Results reveal that the primary influence comes from the dimensions of NVDSF, followed by the size of window openings. For the analysed NVDSF, an optimal gap depth is found at 0.2 m, and an optimal vent height is around 0.2–0.3 m. More gap depths result in more counterflows at the top, while a taller vent unnecessarily weakens the heat transfer. Besides, influences from room/window configurations also cannot be overlooked. Windows on the sidewall are found to deliver better indoor airflow coverage, although it gives around 2.5% less ventilation rate. Compared to a ‘no room’ condition (i.e., all the openings of the NVDSF are directly connected with outdoor but not room), our models with room only achieved 85–93% of the airflow rate depending on window sizes. It highlights the importance of considering room and windows for an accurate and practical assessment. Although the window locations and room dimensions draw minor impacts on the ventilation rates, the changes in airflow distribution prove their own importance in terms of air quality assessment.
... Facade is the first visual and identity of the building [3]. Facade characterized the typology of each building function. ...
This research aims to describe utilizing the technology of dynamic faces on buildings. It used a descriptive method for depicting dynamic facades and literature review. This research described that the development nowadays is getting faster and receiving many demands for job simplification. It is the same as in building materials called material technology. This technology emerged because of the insistence on human needs and awareness of taking care for the environment. One of them is a dynamic facade which has a futuristic concept that uses sophisticated technology yet environment friendly. With the dynamic facade, it is expected to be an educational material for the public to think more visionary and care for the environment. The dynamic facade is also very helpful to humans in terms of saving human labour. The results of this study were that buildings could integrate with the environment and utilize abundant natural resources.
In the face of global warming, mitigating the urban heat island effect has become an important concern worldwide. This study applies the principle of buoyancy ventilation formed by sunlight in double skin façades (DSFs) to improve the thermal environment outside buildings by discharging heat through temperature and pressure differences. The study subject is a 15 × 30 × 40 m residential concrete building situated in a subtropical climate. The lower opening of the DSF faces the outdoor environment; heat is absorbed through this opening from the ground environment and then evacuated up to above the urban canopy layer heat island in order to cool pedestrian environments on the ground. We used numerical simulation to analyze the cooling potential of this DSF in summer daytime conditions. The results show that the DSF can successfully transport heat energy and discharge it above the urban canopy layer. Significant cooling effects were observed in both the horizontal and vertical spaces on the leeward side of the building DSF through the passage of surface heat, thereby reducing the load of indoor air conditioning.
In modern architecture, the transition from load-bearing wall systems to frame structures has enabled increased transparency to enhance natural light intake in buildings. However, the increased use of glass surfaces has led to higher energy consumption and increased heat loss in buildings. This challenge is more significant in cold and hot climates with higher temperature differentials. In this regard, one cost-effective technique in passive methods is the implementation of double-skin facades in buildings. The use of double-skin facades as a novel technology for energy savings in contemporary buildings has a significant impact on determining optimal facade behavior. The main issue addressed in this research is the assessment of the thermal load and the performance of the building envelope in heat exchange. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to achieve the optimal distance between the double skins to improve the thermal load of office buildings in the hot and dry climate of Isfahan city. This paper extracts the influential components on the thermal performance of the outer walls of office buildings based on theoretical foundations and then identifies scenarios accordingly. The software used for simulation in this research is Design Builder. Eventually, ten different scenarios of the distance between the double skins ranging from 200 millimeters to 200 centimeters in the south direction of the building were analyzed for thermal performance, and the best scenario was selected. The results indicate that the distance between the double skins has a considerable impact on thermal load performance. In fact, with an increase in the distance between the double skins, the thermal load decreases. Based on the analyses, the optimal system in terms of overall loads is a double-skin facade with a 2-meter distance between the two skins. These findings can be useful in the design of office buildings in hot and dry climates.
In the context of global warming, the focus on applying and researching double–skin facade (DSF) systems to reduce energy consumption in buildings has significantly increased. However, researchers have not thoroughly examined the performance and applicability of DSFs in severe cold regions with high winter heating demands. This study aims to evaluate the potential application of DSFs in the harsh cold cities of Northwest China and investigate their role in enhancing energy efficiency in large public buildings. Through energy consumption simulation and a comprehensive evaluation using the TOPSIS entropy weight method, the effects of applying 20 DSF schemes in four cold cities in Xinjiang (Kashgar, Urumqi, Altay, and Turpan) were analyzed. The experimental results indicate that the average EUI energy–saving rates in Kashgar, Urumqi, Altay, and Turpan are 64.75%, 63.19%, 56.70%, and 49.41%, respectively. South–facing orientation is deemed optimal for DSF in Xinjiang cities, with the highest energy–saving rate reaching 15.19%. In Kashgar, the energy–saving benefits of west–facing DSF surpass those of north–facing DSF. Conversely, the order of orientation benefits for other cities is south, north, west, and east. An analysis of heating, cooling, and lighting energy consumption reveals that Box Windows exhibit superior heating energy efficiency, while Corridors are more effective for cooling. This characteristic is also evident in the optimal installation orientation of various types of curtain walls. Given the relatively higher demand for heating compared to cooling in urban areas, Box Windows yields significant benefits when facing south, west, or north; conversely, if there is a high demand for urban cooling, Corridors should be considered in these three directions. Multistorey DSF systems are suitable for east–facing buildings in Xinjiang cities. Selecting suitable DSF schemes based on specific conditions and requirements can reduce building energy consumption. The research findings offer theoretical guidance for designing and implementing DSF in diverse cities in cold regions.
In hot arid climates such as Kuwait, the challenge of heat transfer through building façades has prompted significant debate. Determining the heating and cooling loads of buildings in such environments is crucial to assess their energy efficiency. Objectives: This research was undertaken to gauge the energy efficiency of high-rise buildings outfitted with double facades in Kuwait City, emphasizing their heating and cooling loads. Methods: A parametric computer simulation was employed, utilizing the eQUEST program, to model a prototype of a high-rise building with double facades in Kuwait City. This model was used to quantify the double façade's efficacy in mitigating heating and cooling loads, drawing comparisons with typical glazing buildings in the city. Results: Findings indicate that the total energy consumption for space conditioning in buildings with DSFs was 235 MWh/year for heating and 2,890 MWh/year for cooling, aligning well with the energy conservation program (MEW/R-6/2014) benchmarks in Kuwait. Additionally, when optimally configured with materials like polycarbonate and an optimal cavity width of 50cm, DSFs contributed to a significant reduction in building loads. Specifically, the DSFs constituted 2,900 MWh/year of the total cooling load and 235 MWh/year of the heating load. Conclusion: Our results underscore the potential of double-skin façades in decreasing energy consumption for both heating and cooling purposes, demonstrating their superiority over conventional high-rise building facades in Kuwait City.
Most energy exchanges take place through the building skin. The skin characteristics play a decisive role in the extent of these exchanges, but they are somewhat more varied in the double skin façade (DSF). Among these characteristics, cavity segmentation has a noticeable effect on the implementation of the DSF in different directions during the hot and cold seasons. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of DSF segmentation in energy consumption and natural ventilation of high-rise buildings in hot and dry climates. This study used DesignBuilder software to study sixty-four segmentation component scenarios in an eight-story residential building in Isfahan, Iran. Moreover, a proposed hybrid model utilizing the hybridization of the Hunger Game Search and Gradient Boosting (HGS-GB) algorithm was employed to estimate energy consumption in various scenarios involving lighting, heating, cooling, and total scenarios. The available outcomes revealed that the HGS-GB model had a better performance in comparison with other individual models, such as Gradient Boosting (GB), Random Forest (RF), and K-nearest neighbors (KNN). The R2 32 values for lighting, heating, cooling, and total energy estimation were 0.9993, 0.9958, 0.9991, and 0.9922, respectively. The findings of this study suggest the 34 significance of DSF segmentation in energy consumption and natural ventilation in high-rise buildings in hot and dry climates.
Tall buildings have become a prevalent typology around the world. They carry benefits for the entrepreneur (profits) and the local authority (municipal taxes), the architect and the tenants (prestige). Yet little is known about the actual needs of the building itself, the fact that its different levels are exposed to different climatic conditions, thus have different energy needs, or the contingencies involved in living high up in, or down around them. This paper presents results of ongoing research, including tall buildings’ microclimatic peculiarities with height and ensuant energy needs; building envelope design and energy efficiency; microclimatic peculiarities created on the pedestrian level; and environmental quality. Specific modules results have been published in several papers, while additional work is ongoing, since this building prototype and its implications are still mostly poorly understood. Such work ties into climate change and the built environment, public health, survivability and resilience under extreme environmental events, which seem to become the norm. Results of parts of this research certainly tie into Covid-related contingencies and the need for usable public open spaces, efficient building ventilation to ensure good Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), and a whole array of other issues.
Given the climate-sensitive interactions between buildings and the immediate environment, an insight into the impact of design parameters on building energy performance under specific climate environments is crucial for the sustainable development of green buildings. The following study imparts a distinctive view of the performance-based effect of architectural and engineering design parameters on high-rise office buildings by exploiting the advantages of climatic features in different climate environments. Therewith, the study identifies and compares the major sensitive design parameters on the energy performance of high-rise buildings in different climate contexts. Furthermore, the most applicable passive strategies to attaining stipulated building sustainability criteria are established. The results indicate that the energy performance in a certain climate environment is highly sensitive to the design characteristics, such as plan ratio, core position and atrium effect. In a cold climate environment, a high-rise building with a rectangular building plan (plan ratio = 1:1.44, with vertical split-core in the absence of an atrium), satisfies the Passivhaus engineering criteria on air-tightness and fabric insulation; and adopts double-glass curtain walls, presented the best energy performance. Whereas, a square building plan (with vertical split-core and no atrium) that complies with the air-tightness and fabric insulation criteria under Passivhaus engineering standards, minimizes east- and west-bound window exposures, and adopts double-glass curtain walls exhibited the best energy performance in the hot climate zone. However, it requires renewable energy systems as an additional energy source to attain the stipulated building sustainability criteria.
Buildings account for an important share of global energy consumption and CO2 emissions, so increasing energy efficiency in buildings is essential to ensure an energy transition and sustainable development. In this study, we evaluate the energy benefits obtained through the application of a double-skin façade (passive façade). Subsequently, this is combined first with an airflow network and a control logic for opening windows (active façade) and secondly with transparent photovoltaic modules. The proposed measures are applied to an office building at the University of Naples Federico II. Building’s thermal and energy performance are evaluated using EnergyPlus software, starting from validated energy demands of the base buildings. Both passive and active façade provided a reduction in primary energy consumption for space conditioning, of about 17% and 28%, respectively, and in the total primary energy consumption, of about 4% and 9%, respectively. The best solution, with the maximum energy saving in total primary energy consumption, approximately 20%, is achieved with the active façade and with 80% of the outer layer of the double-skin façade covered by PV modules. The results show that transparent double-skin facades are promising and effective for energy retrofit.
With the rapid development of building technology, transparent envelope is more and more widely used, which makes the indoor environment of buildings more and more affected by solar radiation. However, the effects of solar radiation are not included in the PMV model. The Corrected Predicted Mean Vote (CPMV) model considering solar radiation was previously proposed and verified in northern China. In order to expand the applicability of the CPMV model to the hot summer and cold winter (HSCW) zone of southern China, a field study was conducted in an office building in Nanjing. A total of 686 valid questionnaires were recovered during the surveys in two summers in 2019 and 2020. The results show that the evaluation value of CPMV is highly consistent with the actual thermal sensation vote (TSV) when the corrected operative temperature is below 30 °C. However, when the corrected operative temperature is above 30 °C, the CPMV value is higher than TSV, because it underestimates the tolerance of human body to the hot environment in Nanjing. The thermal neutral temperature is 26.12 °C (CPMV) and 26.28 °C (TSV) respectively, which is higher than that in winter and summer in northern China. This study fills the blank in the application of CPMV model in southern China. The CPMV model can accurately evaluate the thermal comfort of indoor environment affected by solar radiation, which is worthy of promotion and application to other types of buildings and areas.
Educational buildings represent an indivisible part of every society, and it is necessary to make them energy efficient. In the current research on the energy-efficient retrofit of school buildings, the impact of several passive design strategies is studied. These interventions include improvement of the building envelope characteristics and parameters related to select passive design systems. In order to determine whether applying a green roof, double-skin facade, or Trombe wall, with or without shading contributes to heating and cooling energy consumption reduction, building energy performance was simulated using the EnergyPlus and jEplus software. This holistic approach takes into consideration parameters that may be critical for the success of the energy-efficient retrofit of school buildings. The results revealed which parameters provide the most significant heating and cooling energy savings of the modeled school buildings in local climatic conditions. By applying the appropriate combination of interventions, the heating energy saving can be up to 77%, while with a proper mix of the proposed measures, the maximum cooling energy savings are up to 79%.
Plastic materials are increasingly becoming used in the building envelope, despite a lack of investigation on their effects. In this work, an extruded Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene panel has been tested as a second-skin layer in a ventilated facade system using a full-scale facility. The experimental results show that it is possible to achieve performances very similar to conventional materials. A numerical model has then been developed and used to investigate the performances of plastic and composite polymer panels as second-skin layers. The experimental data has been used to verify the behavior of the numerical model, from a thermal point of view, showing good reliability, with a root mean square error lower than 0.40 °C. This model has then been applied in different refurbishment cases upon varying: the polymer and the manufacturing technology (extruded or 3D-printed panels). Eight refurbishment case studies have been carried out on a typical office building located in Napoli (Italy), by means of a dynamic simulation software. The simulation results show that the proposed actions allow the reduction of the thermal and cooling energy demand (up to 6.9% and 3.1%, respectively), as well as the non-renewable primary energy consumption (up to 2.6%), in comparison to the reference case study.
This paper investigates different strategies towards advancing the energy efficiency of a high-rise office building by focusing on the building envelope. More specifically, the focus is on the thermal properties of the building envelope and the effect of altitude on energy performance. The studies are focused on Tel Aviv, Israel, a city with a vibrant high-rise building activity. Studying this typology in this Mediterranean climate will be of relevance for other cities with similar climate (e.g. in Middle East, S. Europe, N. Africa) that undergo similar processes of high-rise development. The study is based on thermal simulations of an office reference model at different heights: 8 m (ground level), 82 m, 168 m, 254 m, and 340 m. Alternative façade scenarios were implemented for gradually upgrading the building envelope and studying its relationship with the changing microclimate with altitude (wind speed increase and dry bulb temperature drop) between ground and top level. The envelope scenarios range from clear single glazing, to LowE double-glazing, triple glazing, the addition of external shading devices, and a double skin façade (DSF). The popularity of DSFs has grown over the last decades, due to their potential of improving a building’s energy performance, when compared to a single-glazing curtain wall. The high levels of solar radiation common in latitudes and climates like the one in discussion, result in high cooling loads, especially in relation to the design of glass façades. As a result, studies on the energy performance of DSFs in comparison to a single-glazing envelope become very important for improving energy efficiency. Moreover, published research on DSFs is currently mainly on cold and moderate climates. Energy consumption between ground-to-top floors alters with the changing microclimate in relation to height: heating increases, while cooling drops. Moreover, for an office building in Tel Aviv the energy loads for cooling are much higher compared with those for heating. Results show that single clear glazing performs the worst, while using LowE double glazing in scenario B reduces energy consumption for cooling by 25% from scenario A. The addition of external shading devices in scenario C reduces cooling loads by a further 50% from scenario B. In scenario D triple LowE glazing performs by 1% worse in cooling loads from the double-glazing option, however, comparing scenario E of triple glazing with external shading with scenario C of double glazing with external shading, scenario E has 20% higher cooling loads. The comparison between scenario F of the DSFs with scenario C shows that scenario C performs 8% better in cooling loads. However, the shading devices shade a large portion of the facades, while in the DSF option transparency and visibility are maintained, as well as improving the energy performance of the building. The results prompt for further studies on the energy efficiency of DSF in warm climates.
The numbers of high-rise buildings around the world increase rapidly. However, this fast pace is not in tandem with the expertise gained on how to design this building typology to best adjust it to local climates. In addition, the increased transparency of the building envelope from the mid-twentieth century onwards, resulted in high- energy loads, especially prominent in high-rise construction. With planning policies moving towards targets for low carbon built environments, this challenging typology needs further research and experimentation. This study focuses on the building envelope, as a passive design strategy towards reduced energy loads. Simulations of different envelope scenarios in the Mediterranean climate are conducted with EnergyPlus thermal simulation engine, and comparisons are made on energy loads in relation to height. Initial simulations between three single- skin envelope scenarios and a ventilated double skin façade (DSF) revealed the importance of lowering the high cooling loads relevant to the hot and humid climate, while external shading performed better from a double-skin envelope with LowE glazing as the interior layer. The focus then shifted on increasing the energy efficiency of the DSF, as a more advanced envelope option (controlled ventilation, acoustic insulation etc.), by drawing comparisons between four DSFs. Simulations showed that the most energy efficient DSF in the Mediterranean climate is with LowE glazing as the outside layer. In the final step, the comparison between the building en- velope with the proposed DSF and the one with external shading was in favour of the DSF option. Conclusions are drawn on the relationship of the building envelope with climate, with a preference on DSF towards a low carbon building design, while suggestions are made for further DSF research.
A large proportion of the existing building stock worldwide needs renovation and upgrading that will help comply with new energy codes and reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Improvements with minimal interference to inhabitants can be achieved by upgrading facades using elements that enhance energy efficiency and user comfort. Prefabricated energy retrofit systems have been suggested, but at present many lack adaptability to weather and usage conditions. This paper presents BRESAER, a retrofit system that provides adaptability through combination of passive strategies and intelligence features , which can be used in different climates and diverse building types. Energy performance was analysed for five types of European climates, results are shown for two climate types and three usages. A comparison was made of the presented system with a mostly passive retrofit system. Results show that in both climates , adaptability provides higher energy savings, complying with current definitions of very low-energy buildings. ARTICLE HISTORY
Double-skin facade (DSF) is regarded as one of the most advanced and promising curtain wall technologies currently available, adopted until recently mainly in cold and temperate climates. Despite their potential for improved thermal performance compared to conventional curtain wall technologies, experience with the application of DSF technology in hot climates is still little. This paper presents the results of the first DSF monitoring in Israel, executed in the first office building in Israel to apply this technology. Results show that the applied DSF technology (mechanically ventilated box window DSF with integrated blinds) has a potential for keeping indoor temperatures up to 2°C below outdoor temperatures (excluding the effect of air conditioning) and reducing solar heat gains without compromising indoor visual comfort. At the same time, they also exposed an inherent deficiency of the system's capacity to prevent air cavity overheating: air cavity temperatures were 10-30°C higher than outdoor temperatures in all facades exposed to direct solar irradiance.
As of 2007 more than half of the world’s population is living in urban areas (a figure expected to rise to 60% by 2030). Thus, the liveability of the high-density city is gradually becoming a central point of focus and concern. A successful skyscraper model of urban planning could provide the possibility to increase city-space vertically as opposed to the current continuous expansion outward, which has obvious environmental consequences. However, skyscraper development, as well as all other new construction and gradually the older building stock, has to comply with current strict regulations on building energy efficiency. Contemporary high-rise examples do not present a sustainable solution to an increasing population or as models of prosperity, as they are linked to high-energy demand, environmental and social imbalances.
The assessment of adaptive facades presents a barrier in light of the fact that there are no standard assessment techniques to systematically achieve this goal. Most of the available facade performance evaluation systems or frameworks have limited applicability for such advanced building facades. The complexity involved in the evaluation of adaptive or dynamic facades is related to the performance evaluation of facade elements, systems and overall building performance associated with occupant behavior and occupant satisfaction. In this context, we present a case study of an adaptive sunscreen facade to evaluate its performance and occupant behavior. The evaluation focuses mainly on the pre- and post-construction phases of adaptive facades: the design assist phase (including the durability test, visual mockup, onsite mashrabiya mounting and weather stripping), the commissioning phase (field verification and performance testing) and the monitoring phase. The selected project is a 150-meter-high twin tower t...
With world population becoming progressively urbanized, approximately 55% to date, the typology of the skyscraper is promoted as potentially socially and economically successful solution. However, an important challenge set on a worldwide basis is how to reduce their high-energy demands, environmental and social imbalances to meet growing strict regulations on carbon emissions and sustainable development. This paper looks at the challenges of skyscraper development in relation to energy efficiency, and investigates strategies towards achieving reducing its energy consumption. A 100m tall model is simulated using the climatic characteristic of Tel Aviv, and energy consumption is studied according to two parameters: the thermal advancement of the building envelope, and the effect of the changing microclimate in relation to altitude. The model is then simulated at 200m-400m high (60 – 125 stories high) and energy consumption is compared in relation to altitude.
Some 25 years ago, the development of Double-skin Glass façades (DSFs) grew in Germany as a promising alternative to address the well-known problems of curtain walls, particularly heat loss, over-heating and noise, by combining a thermal buffer and sun protection in a ventilated glass chamber. The introduction and spread of DSFs was not only based on technical innovations from the field of building physics, but also strongly fostered by a growing trend within architectural practice, including social and aesthetic values, such as the construction of a “green” corporate image or the pervasiveness of fashionable and widely published buildings that served as examples.
In this paper, I discuss the articulation of the technical fundamentals and the social mechanisms that promoted the use of DSFs in buildings in Germany starting in the 1990s, based on available documentation from patents, industry catalogues, contemporary literature and ex-post evaluations of the buildings. I hold that DSFs make a clear case for a combined techno-social development, far from linear or objective, but intertwined with a cultural and social elements suggesting a new understanding of technical decisions presumed neutral. The case of DSFs shows how this process goes beyond objective technical properties or performance, and needs to be accounted for and kept in mind in order to fully understand the development and success or failure of technological innovations in architecture.
It is frequently argued that bio-climatic design strategies result in substantial energy savings in buildings and higher levels of user's satisfaction. Such claims have not been fully substantiated by systematic research, however, particularly when dealing with high rise office blocks [i]. This paper presents the performance of a high rise bio-climatic office block designed by Ken Yeang and compares it with that of a conventional one. Both case study buildings are located in the Island of Penang, Malaysia with similar outdoor conditions. Indoor environmental parameters have been measured using portable equipment and user's perceptions have been recorded using structured questionnaires. The paper presents the rating of a comparative analysis of the measured indoor temperature and user's perception in both office buildings.
One of the most important methods of saving energy in a building is by carefully designing its facade. A ‘double skin facade’ is optimally one of the best options in managing the interaction between the outdoors and the internal spaces. It also provides some architectural flexibility to the design. Double skin façade (DSF) building is one of the available energy conservation opportunities through recent intelligent buildings. The need to energy conservation and sustainable development in buildings is causing a new interest towards passive solar systems. This paper will survey the various types of double skin facades systems, exploring their features and functioning followed by a review of examples; both constructed and proposed, from different buildings. The paper will then assess and analyze recent research and examples to attempt to reach a conclusion as to whether with a double skin façade, minimizing energy consumption within building. Finally, double skin facade (DSF) has been proven to be highly useful and significant in current building developments. The only downside of double skin facade is that it is said to be more expensive than the traditional single glass facade. However, it is widely agreed by many experts that double skin facade (DSF) is more cost-effective in the long run. This is because it is long lasting and more durable as compared to the single glass facade.
The most pleasant architectures are known as systems which are able to maintain great correlation with nature. These systems make the best out of natural potentials to maintain thermal comfort for buildings occupants. To that aim, the first step is to manage the effect of outside weather condition on building's envelope. DSF is known as architects' solution to control incoming wind speed, manage the amounts of solar heat gains and reduce noise pollution in noisy city area. DSF is able to decrease cooling loads by ventilating away the solar heat built up in the cavity. However previous researchers have suggested that the risk of overheating within (DSF) envelope is high in tropical climate. This paper would aim to evaluate the effect of DSF's air-gap size on the amount of solar heat transferred through the façade envelope. CFD tool is applied to simulate 6 different strategies. While during each strategy 60 monitor point record accurate temperature data; the results of the simulations determines rooms' temperature for each strategy. In addition analyzing the result determines that DSF air-gap size is an important factor in order to reduce solar heat gains and reduction up to 3° centigrade is possible by well designed air-gap size.
This paper presents a thermal simulation validation study of the typical precision that a trained thermal simulation engineer can expect to obtain for the simulation of a room connected to a naturally ventilated double skin facade. The open source building thermal simulation tool EnergyPlus is used to predict air and surface temperatures in a free running weather exposed test cell. The validation approach used does not allow for fine tuning the simulation model by trial and error and includes a sensitivity analysis on the impact of different simulation options such as: number of thermal zones, ground heat transfer and accuracy of solar radiation data. The analysis of the results is consistent with the engineering application goal by focusing on standard indicators: average error, bias and difference between predicted and measured daily maximums. The results show good agreement between simulation and experiment, with an average simulation error in air and radiant temperature of 1.4 degrees C and an average daily maximum error of 2.5 C.
This study measured an actual behavior of a multi-story double skin facade (DSF) in South Korea. The verification of simulation model was made against measured data, and a case study was conducted based on the verified model. Seasonal load characteristics of the DSF building were examined in comparison with the single skin facade (SSF) building, and seasonal operation strategies of the DSF were proposed.The DSF building resulted in 15.8% and 7.2% reductions in heating and cooling energy consumption respectively, compared to the SSF building. In the proposed model of heating seasons, heated air in the cavity was introduced to an outdoor air (OA) mixing box of a HVAC system. In the proposed model of cooling seasons, air in the cavity was flowed into an indoor space through inner layer openings for natural ventilation, and outdoor air supply in a AHU was controlled based on the amount of the natural ventilation. These seasonal proposed models resulted in 28.2% and 2.3% reductions in heating and cooling energy consumption respectively, compared to the DSF model to which operation strategies were not applied.
In the first paper of a series of two publications entitled “A comprehensive review of solar facades. Opaque solar facades†an exhaustive review of scientific studies carried out during the last decade on opaque solar facades was proposed. The paper dealt with facades that absorb and reflect the incident solar radiation but cannot transfer directly solar heat gain into the building. This article offers a complementary survey of studies conducted during the same period of time on transparent and translucent solar facades, highlighting the categories of ventilated facades and semi-transparent building-integrated photovoltaic facades.
Starting from a practical design problem related to natural and hybrid ventilation systems, this paper looks at different airflow modeling methods that might be employed to assist in the decision making process of a building design team. The question at hand is whether or not to make use of a double-skin façade system in a new office development. The airflow modeling methods considered are the mass balance network method and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The paper gives an overview of the methodology of the design study. The underlying modeling and simulation work is elaborated. The paper finishes with some conclusions, both in terms of the actual performance of the double-skin facade and in terms of the modeling and simulation work. The main conclusions are that for the foreseeable future the network method is more suited for this type of "everyday" design support work. However there are important areas where the network method in general might benefit from CFD, or vice versa.
Taking into account Mediterranean climate particularities for Barcelona, Spain, a whole year study using TAS simulation software was carried out for a Double Skin Façade corporative office building. It is a typical office building with an extended working hours schedule for acclimatization. Four different cavity widths were simulated - 40cm, 60cm, 80cm, 100cm - as well as three different external opening areas for cavity's natural ventilation purpose. Two Double Skin Façade typologies were simulated - a corridor façade and a multistory façade. Simulations showed cooling loads are much greater than heating loads on a double glazed skin façade building south oriented in a Mediterranean climate town like Barcelona. Results demonstrated that a Multistory Façade, depending on its configuration, might save up to 5% on annual cooling loads respect to a Corridor Façade. Different opening areas and cavity depths shall be used for different typologies in order to obtaining good energy results.
Double skin facades are defined as two layers of facade separated by an air gap, that varies in its depth creating a solar chimney effect where warm air rises by buoyancy. As a facade technology, its thermal and daylight performance is still under scientific scrutiny. The bulk of research on the performance of this facade configuration is carried out in moderate climates.However, little is understood about the performance of double skin facade configurations in extreme hot arid climates. This investigation adopts an analytical approach using a dynamic simulation software (IESVE), to convert general intuitions on the performance of a double skin facade, in hot arid areas, into the grounds of understanding its performance based on research. It is an opportunity to study this facade configuration before the technology is transferred into construction in hot arid areas. In this paper, a comparative analysis of cooling loads on a single skin base case is compared against three possible changes to the physical properties of the external layer of the double skin facade. A dynamic thermal performance software APACHE-Sim is used (integrated environmental solutions IESVE, version 5.1). Simulation results indicate that a reflective double skin facade can achieve better energy savings than a single skin with reflective glazing.
The numbers of high-rise buildings around the world increase rapidly. However, this fast pace is not in tandem with the expertise gained on how to design this building typology to best adjust it to local climates. In addition, the increased transparency of the building envelope from the mid-twentieth century onwards, resulted in high-energy loads, especially prominent in high-rise construction. With planning policies moving towards targets for low carbon built environments, this challenging typology needs further research and experimentation. This study focuses on the building envelope, as a passive design strategy towards reduced energy loads. Simulations of different envelope scenarios in the Mediterranean climate are conducted with EnergyPlus thermal simulation engine, and comparisons are made on energy loads in relation to height. Initial simulations between three single-skin envelope scenarios and a ventilated double skin façade (DSF) revealed the importance of lowering the high cooling loads relevant to the hot and humid climate, while external shading performed better from a double-skin envelope with LowE glazing as the interior layer. The focus then shifted on increasing the energy efficiency of the DSF, as a more advanced envelope option (controlled ventilation, acoustic insulation etc.), by drawing comparisons between four DSFs. Simulations showed that the most energy efficient DSF in the Mediterranean climate is with LowE glazing as the outside layer. In the final step, the comparison between the building envelope with the proposed DSF and the one with external shading was in favour of the DSF option. Conclusions are drawn on the relationship of the building envelope with climate, with a preference on DSF towards a low carbon building design, while suggestions are made for further DSF research.
Emerging environmental threats originating from rapid urbanization and the associated energy shortages, negative impacts of climate change, and sick building syndromes have led to government sectors and various construction-based professional bodies recognizing the need for developing effective sustainable building design strategies. As a result, growing interest in the development of effective solutions for enhancement of the sustainable energy performance of buildings has been observed in recent years. Along this line, building envelopes that separate the indoor from the outdoor environments, and in particular building façades, play a substantial role for energy saving in buildings. Nevertheless, this study argues that there is a lack of a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the available literature regarding the energy and thermal performance of building façades based on the various possible design and technical configurations, especially in hot and humid climates. Important decisions should be made by architects and engineers during the early design stages of buildings with viewpoints to the ultimate impacts of building physics on the overall energy performance and indoor comfort conditions of buildings. With such a research gap in existing literature, in these early stages many key façade attributes may be overlooked. Hence, this study attempts to develop a state-of-the-art analysis of the existing literature about the circumstances of optimizing the performance of building façades, particularly in hot and humid climates. Likewise, the study extracts practical lessons learned from AEC industry and demonstrates the current status of utilizing energy efficient building façades in recent construction developments in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) and Australia (Darwin). Finally, the study draws attention to the emerging innovative solutions for the design of building façades towards improving the energy efficiency of building sector and contributing to the sustainable development of cities.
The modeling activity presented in this work aims at the assessment of a simplified model, named BS model, which was specifically developed for integration of DSF in Building Simulation. The BS model is based on a pressure loop and on an integral approach to the heat transfer along the vertical channel. It considers buoyancy as a function of the average temperature in the channel. The wind action is taken into account by means of wind pressure coefficients (Cp) on the façade openings.
The focus of this study is the experimental validation of the modeling “core”: the natural ventilation through the DSF. The validation is based on the dataset of the experimental campaign conducted on a DSF test facility, the “Cube”, in Denmark, under IEA ECBCS ANNEX 43/SHC Task 34. Hourly simulations were performed with the BS model for the 15 days of the experimental campaign.
A CFD modeling activity was also carried out on a selection of four cases, extracted from the experimental benchmark and representative of different temperature and pressure boundary conditions.
The results show that the BS model presents a good level of agreement with the experimental data in predicting the mass flow rate and the heat removed by ventilation. Although the two experimental methods used to determine the airflow rate in the DSF cavity produce in many cases divergent results, it was possible to distinguish valid experimental results for comparison with the BS model. This was possible thanks to a thorough analysis of the experimental procedure together with the insight provided by the model into the determination of the driving wind and thermal differential pressures. In particular, by selecting only the measurements associated to sufficiently low wind fluctuations in the hourly averaged data, a good degree of correlation was found between the predicted total driving pressure and the flow measurements.
Concerning the four cases investigated also by means of CFD, the agreement between the BS and CFD models is remarkable in terms of outlet temperatures and in the prediction of flow reversal.
The design of energy conservative buildings that incorporates natural ventilation (NV) strategy has become increasingly popular around the world. Natural ventilation is a key solution for reducing energy consumption of buildings and for maintaining a healthy indoor environment. However, the adoption of natural ventilation in high-rise buildings is less common. As rapid population growth and urbanization take place in cities, it is important to explore the substantial energy saving potential of high rises by utilizing natural ventilation. In this study, we have provided the early effort to estimate quantitatively the vertical profiles of NV potential for high rises at major cities from six climate zones in the U.S. (i.e., Miami, Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Minneapolis), using an in-house boundary layer meteorology model. The diurnal cycle of atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) and local climate characteristics are found to have a great effect on the vertical structure of NV potential. In general, negative vertical gradients of NV hours are observed for all cities except Miami where the vertical distribution is nearly uniform. For example, the annual NV hour decreases from 7258 at ground level to 4866 at 300 m above the ground in Los Angeles. Our analysis shows that outdoor temperature is a key meteorological parameter that determines vertical profiles of NV hours in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis. In contrast, humidity plays a greater role in cities like Miami and Houston where the outdoor temperature is often favorable for using natural ventilation except in the summer. Among studied cities, Los Angeles provides the ideal climate (warm and dry) for utilizing natural ventilation, displaying the greatest NV potential (7258 NV hours or 83% time of the year at ground level), followed by New York City with 3360 NV hours. The remainder of the four studied cities display comparable numbers of NV hours of approximately 2500 at ground level. The methodology and findings from this study are intended to assist architects and policy makers in quantifying the potential energy savings of natural ventilation, and illustrating the importance of considering the vertical variations of elevated thermal environment in high-rise buildings across different climate zones in the U.S.
Double Skin Façades (DSFs) are applied in both new and existing buildings, and most of such applications are found in temperate climates. Although research in this area is growing steadily, comparative analyses of DSF applications in different climates are still few and far between. This paper addresses such a gap by means of a comparative thermal comfort analysis of a DSF building model in both tropical and temperate climates. London and Rio de Janeiro have been selected as two representative cities, and three building orientations in each city have been considered; S, SW, and SE, for London in northern hemisphere and N, NW, and NE for Rio in southern hemisphere. Dynamic building energy modelling has been used to determine and assess indoor environmental conditions. While IES VE as the main software tool was utilised, the accuracy and reliability of the results were also cross-checked against a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) software package. Thermal comfort has been assessed through the adaptive comfort approach and results have been analysed and presented in form of comfortable indoor conditions during occupied hours. Results of this study show that the intrinsic flexibility of the DSF can offer indoor comfort for more than half of a year in both climates without any need for mechanical heating/cooling, which contributes significantly to reducing energy demands and cutting CO2 emissions. Additionally, the study shows that the wind force plays a dominant role in driving airstreams in and through the DSF, which highly impacts the overall thermal performance of the buildings. Findings from this research can be useful to academics and practitioners alike, to inform better DSF design and to shed light onto further avenues for DSF research.
With the global target to promote energy saving in buildings, various studies draw attention to the role of environmentally benign building envelopes. In this regard, double-skin façades (DSFs) have been proposed as a promising passive building technology to enhance the energy efficiency and improve the indoor thermal comfort at the same time. A comprehensive analysis of the current design of DSFs, and their technical aspects is presented in this paper. Construction characteristics of DSFs are also reported. The impacts of DSFs on the energy efficiency and thermal performance are discussed by looking at measured and simulated performances. Findings confirm that significant benefits result from using DSFs. Finally, research opportunities are outlined for further investigation.
This paper shows a new DSF modeling approach socalled a co-simulation of the heterogeneous systems. In this approach, the calibrated DSF MATLAB model developed by [Park 2003] and the EnergyPlus building model are integrated in the BCVTB environment. As a result, more reliable simulation results can be obtained. Finally, the paper shows the difference between two approaches: (1) DSF simulation with EnergyPlus only and (2) the heterogeneous simulation approach using the inhouse DSF model augmented with the whole building simulation model.
Double Skin Façades (DSFs) are applied in both new and existing buildings, especially in temperate climates. Research in this area is steadily growing; however, there is a lack of conclusive results in available literature about energy performances related to the DSF, thus limiting a better and more informed application of this technology in the Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector. This article systematically reviews more than 50 articles which have dealt with the energy related performance of DSFs in temperate climates and provide a meta-analysis of the numerical findings published in the studies examined. Energy related figures are presented separately for embodied and operational energy. Specifically, the operational energy end-uses taken into account are heating, cooling, lighting, and ventilation. Numerical results in the literature are normalised and expressed in form of percentage of maximum energy reduction/increment compared to a base case (e.g. a single skin case) used as a reference in the corresponding studies. Such an approach is meant to provide a reliable comparison of published figures. Key façade parameters (DSF spatial configurations, cavity width and ventilation), building parameters (orientation and climatic areas) and the methodological approaches used in the reviewed studies were adopted as clustering criteria. Several clustering criteria present extremely spread values, indicating the necessity to further investigate, understand, and attempt to reduce such high discrepancies in operational energy performances. Additionally, and more importantly, almost no information exists on DSFs life cycle energy figures, highlighting an important gap that requires further research.
From Low-Energy to Zero-Energy Building: Status and Perspectives. "Net Zero Energy Building" has become a prominent wording to describe the synergy of energy efficient building and renewable energy utilization to reach a balanced energy budget over a yearly cycle. Taking into account the energy exchange with a grid infrastructure overcomes the limitations of energy autonomous buildings with the need for seasonal energy storage on-site. Even though the wording "Net Zero Energy Building" occurs in many energy policy documents a harmonized definition or a balancing method is still missing. The paper reports on the background and the various effects influencing the energy balance approach. After discussing the national energy code framework in Germany a harmonized terminology and balancing procedure is suggested. Besides the energy balance the procedure takes load energy efficiency and matching into account.
Natural ventilation in residential buildings has a great potential for conserving energy and improving the health of occupants. This paper first presents a design strategy for optimizing natural ventilation in high-rise residential buildings in Chongqing, China, a region with unfavorably low wind speed. Through the use of CFD modeling, building orientation and spacing were adjusted, wind paths were created into internal zones, and two windows were constructed in each bedroom. The optimized design reduced the age of air to less than 6 min in 90% of the rooms, as compared to an age of greater than 30 min in 50% of the rooms in a conventional design. Natural ventilation was found to be effective in the Chongqing area with the optimized design. This investigation also measured the local age of air and air change rate in a building with the optimized design using a tracer-gas method. The measurements confirmed the reliability of the CFD results.
Today, energy has a key role in socio-economical development of a country. By exhausting fossil fuels as one of the largest energy consumption sources throughout the world, it seems to be vital to find renewable alternative energy sources or ways of reducing energy demands, especially in tall buildings with their great potential to use sustainable sources because of their height. In this study, the main problem is that the construction builders and users do not know the excessive energy saving potential of high-rise buildings. So, as a priority, this matter should be more concentrated on while designing by architects. These days, in my own country Iran, due to population growth and industrial development, the amount of energy consumption is increasing. This can show the importance of the problem. So, the Tehran International Tower, which is the highest residential tower in Iran, was chosen as a case study. Thus, the overall objective of this study is making tall building architects more aware of the neglected sustainable potential ways to diminish energy consumption. Meanwhile, this study tries to illustrate the effects of some environmental factors, such as air pressure and density, wind speed and other similar factors in high-rise buildings, from architects and ordinary people׳s points of view and comparing these attitudes with each other in the case study. Finally, as buildings use a huge amount of generated energy in the world, and high-rise buildings are an inevitable part of the community, they can meaningfully contribute in reducing energy consumption by using renewable energies and new ideas in designing. Moreover, the result of this research shows that sustainable skyscrapers can be energy efficient and are closely related to their site and environment.
Overall thermal transfer value (OTTV) regulation, developed in a performance-based approach, is used to govern the design of a building envelope with an aim to reduce the electricity demand of air-conditioning system and thus the emission of greenhouse gas. Since the current OTTV calculation method including the OTTV equations and coefficients was originally developed for buildings with traditional single skin façade, building professionals have difficulty to compute the OTTV for buildings constructed with sophisticated designs such as double skin façade. The aim of this study is to derive a set of correction factors for OTTV calculation of air-conditioned commercial buildings constructed with naturally ventilated double skin façade. A generic commercial building was modeled using a validated building energy simulation program EnergyPlus. Through a series of computer simulation, a correlation between the OTTV of a traditional single skin façade of a commercial building and the sum of heat gain through the façade area over the cooling season was established. With this correlation, a dataset of correction factors was derived which can be used by architects and building engineers to calculate the OTTV of air-conditioned commercial buildings constructed with double skin façade. The details of methodology and findings are reported in this paper.
The modernist movement in architecture has led to a building boom of a large number of high-rise buildings with glazed façades. These façades were aesthetically pleasing, but have a high energy loading. To address this, a double-skin façade (DSF) has been proposed to manage the interaction between the outdoor and indoor environments. A DSF can contribute to balance the demand for energy saving, thermal and visual comfort, and a high-tech image for building envelopes. The design of the DSF involves decisions on geometric parameters, glass selection, ventilation strategy, shading, daylighting, aesthetics, wind loads, and maintenance and cleaning cost expectations. This paper reports an experimental application of a DSF in an old apartment building which has been modelled in order to find the configuration to select design parameters that could minimize the energy demand and total carbon emissions. A simulation-based virtual environment program was used to determine the optimal sustainable features of the double-skin envelope. Results of the simulation are presented and discussed for four different cavity widths and ventilation modes of operation, highlighting the potential savings in comparison to the existing façade construction. The impact of internal shading within cavity space was also investigated.
The implementation of the double skin facade (DSF) has been the object of broad study in recent years. However the performance of DSF is often questionable because of the lack of experiment and monitoring data, especially regarding multi-storey DSFs.In this study, the actual behavior of a multi-storey double skin facade was measured during the heating season in an office building located in South Korea. The validation of the simulation model was made against measured data with the three statistical indices of the mean bias error (MBE), the root mean squared error (RMSE), and the coefficient of determination (R2). The wind pressure coefficient for the airflow network simulation was calculated using computational fluid dynamics. Based on the control scheme and operation strategies, three types of models were proposed and analyzed with the validated simulation model. These models include a model using DSF as a thermal buffer space (Case 1), a model applying a control scheme on the operable windows (Case 2), and a model using a cavity space as a preheating space for an HVAC system (Case 3). It was found that significant energy saving is possible if multi-storey DSF is integrated with an HVAC system as a preheating space.
Airflow and heat transfer simulation was conducted for a DSF system equipped with a venetian blind, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with RNG turbulence model, for a three-level combination of slat tilt angle and blind position. The CFD prediction was validated using experimental data collected for a mechanically ventilated DSF equipped with venetian blinds. The predicted trends in glass and blind surface temperatures of the CFD model are compared well with the experimental measurements. The present study indicates that the presence of venetian blinds influences the surface heat transfer coefficients (SHTCs), the temperature and the air distribution in the DSF system. For the cases considered, the changes in the position of the blinds (outer, middle, and inner) have more effect on the distribution of temperature, velocity, and SHTCs compared to the changes in the slat angles (θ = 0°, 45°, 90°).
This paper examines the critical design factors and strategies that warrant consideration to accomplish sustainable or high-performance tall buildings applying innovative technologies. It shows how "technology transfers" in the aerospace industry have been applied to tall building systems to achieve high-performance. Because the design of tall buildings warrants a multi-disciplinary approach and requires the integration of architectural components, structure, HVAC, and communication systems, an analogy exists between tall building and aircraft, which also comprises complex integrated systems. A few case study building examples are presented which represent the new generation of sustainable tall buildings that are setting trends for future projects incorporating innovations in materials and building systems. It is concluded that since tall buildings consume massive energy, designers of the next generation of tall buildings will incrementally aim for "zero energy" design. In this approach climate is used to advantage and the building becomes a source of power. It is possible that tall buildings will some day even produce excess energy and transfer the excess to the city's power grid for use in other ways.
The design of a building facade influences internal thermal and lighting conditions and energy use associated with the provision of these conditions. Key decisions about the building facade are usually taken during the concept design stage of a building, while decisions about the method of providing the environmental conditions are often made later in the design process. This dilemma is addressed by the development of a concept design tool that allows the design team to investigate the effect of facade design on the resulting internal environmental conditions, energy use and environmental impact. The concept design tool was developed by performing detailed thermal, lighting and environmental modelling for a number of generic office building facade designs and a range of parameters that affect directly the environmental performance of an office building. The results are presented in a user-friendly interface requiring a minimum number of inputs. Key parameter outputs (such as temperature, lighting levels, heating/cooling energy demand, embodied energy and eco-points) can then be viewed, while a more detailed analysis can also be created for specified facade designs. A parametric analysis of the summary result outputs for selected facade parameters indicates that natural ventilation and cooling can reduce the environmental impact of offices by up to 16%, although heating energy demand could increase significantly. Improving the construction standard of the facade and reducing the internal heat loads can reduce the environmental impact by up to 22%. Use of this tool at early design stages will benefit the design team through an improved understanding of the dynamics between facade design and building services and assist with a more integrated approach.
The design of non-domestic buildings which adopt a purely natural ventilation strategy is now commonplace in many parts of the world, and increasingly this strategy has been shown to be viable in city centres as well as 'green field' locations. However, the adoption of natural ventilation in tall buildings is less common. This is not surprising in view of the potential risks to a successful design. This paper explores the basic principles and strategic options for natural ventilation of tall buildings, and refers to prominent examples which have adopted a 'mixed mode' approach. The prospect of purely naturally ventilated tall buildings is considered in terms of the envelope design. The paper concludes that in terms of designing the envelope and its openings, the challenges for tall buildings are greater than for low rise, primarily because the potential magnitudes of the driving forces become greater and their relative magnitudes can vary over a wider range. Segmentation offers the least risky approach for envelope design of non-residential tall buildings, provided the aerodynamic effects can be reliably accounted for. Tall buildings may also lend themselves to some forms of innovative envelope.
The use of double skin facades (DSF) in the building sector and its thermal benefits have been widely studied numerically over the last 30 years. These modelling and simulations are based on different typologies, which have evolved altogether with the available computational resources. The models that have been used to study the thermal performance of DSF can be grouped as analytical and lumped models, non-dimensional analysis, network models, control volume, zonal approach, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This paper describes these different typologies of numerical modelling highlighting their benefits and limitations, and overviews the research produced using each typology.
Glass façades, particularly in high-rise buildings, increase in energy consumption for heating, cooling and ventilation. This causes too high running cost of mechanical systems. Double skin glass façade is a system that decreases these disadvantages, by providing natural ventilation, preventing solar heat gain, controlling daylight, etc. This paper aims to investigate the appropriateness of double skin glass façades in moderate climate, such as Istanbul, in terms of the energy and cost efficiency when compared to single skin glass façades. For this purpose, an approach is proposed to determine the efficient alternatives. It comprises to generate standard façade alternatives by considering the objectives, constraints and performance criteria, and to evaluate their energy and cost efficiency for both single and double skin glass façades. In conclusion, the most energy efficient double skin glass façade is about 22.84% more efficient than the most energy efficient single skin glass façade is. Additionally, the most cost efficient single skin glass façade is about 24.68% more efficient than the most cost efficient double skin glass façade is.
There is an increasing demand for higher quality office buildings. Occupants and developers of office buildings ask for a healthy and stimulating working environment. Double-skin facades are appropriate when buildings are subject to great external noise and wind loads. A further area of application is in rehabilitation work, when existing facades cannot be renewed, or where this is not desirable. Double-skin facades have a special esthetic of their own, and this can be exploited architecturally to great advantage. However there are still relatively few buildings in which double-skin facades have actually been realized, and there is still too little experience of their behaviour in operation. In this matter, we choose to study a multistory double-skin facades behaviour. Simulations were realized with TAS software on the building proposed in the frame of the subtask A of the Task 27 (performance of solar facade components) of the International Energy Agency. Simulations were performed on the chosen building with and without double-skin facades. We decide to study eight types of days; and we analyze the double-skin facade behaviour for various operations. The thermal behaviours of the building with and without double-skin are compared. The study of these eight cases showed the importance of the dynamic use of the double-skin. The operation of this one must be obligatorily related to the climatic conditions as well external as interior and a bad operation of the double-skin could lead to catastrophic results.
One of the most important methods of saving energy in a building is by carefully designing its facade. A 'double skin façade' is optimally one of the best options in managing the interaction between the outdoors and the internal spaces. It also provides some architectural flexibility to the design. Recently it has received much attention as opposed to the more typically glazed curtain wall. This is because of its ability to efficiently reduce energy and therefore saves cost. The amount of energy saved depends on the climate and the design chosen. The design of the DSF involves decisions on geometric parameters, glass selection, ventilation strategy, shading, daylighting, aesthetics, wind loads, and maintenance and cleaning cost expectations. DSF has an impact on several aspects of the design phase of a building. For example, thermal properties, acoustic characteristics and daylighting are affected in the exploitation phase of the building. In addition, in terms of building safety point of view, fire propagation maintenance or glazing thermal break must be taken into account. Currently, little work has been done on the behaviour of DSFs in hot and humid climates. This paper shall review previous studies made on double skin façade systems (DSFS) in buildings.
The need to energy conservation and sustainable development in buildings is causing a new interest towards passive solar systems. Among them, double-skin facade (DSF) proves to be extremely attractive and promising. DSF is building envelope formed by two layers of different glazing facades which are separated by a ventilated air cavity. The cavity of DSF is used to collect or evacuate the solar radiation absorbed by the facades, thereby improving the thermal comfort and the indoor air quality while conserving energy for heating and cooling. Being a technique developed for colder climates, DSF has been widely applied in commercial buildings across Europe. Nowadays buildings with DSF also appear in the hot-summer and cold-winter zone in China where the weather conditions in summer seem to be not so good for the application. In fact, the thermal analysis of the DSF system is essential to its application in such hot-summer zone. This paper seeks to describe the existing main research methods on the thermal performance of DSF and the shading devices. Problems and possibilities are concomitant. Applying ventilated DSF with controlled shading device system would be a new efficient way for the commercial buildings in the hot-summer and cold-winter zone to meet the task of sustainable building design in China.
In recent years, there has been a great deal of interest in double-skin facades due to the advantages claimed for this technology in terms of energy saving in the cold season, protection from external noise and wind loads and their high-tech image.The advent of computers and other office equipment has increased the internal heat gains in most offices. Highly glazed facades, together with the extra heat gains from the electric lighting made necessary by deep floor plans and the wider use of false ceilings, have increased the risk of overheating. To preserve comfort and reduce cooling loads, it is important to apply natural cooling strategies, including solar protections use.External solar protections are more effective than internal shading devices. In the case of the double-skin facade, the blinds can be integrated in the cavity. It is thus protected from the bad weather and pollution. Solar protection can remain in place even in the event of important wind, which represents an undeniable advantage for the buildings with great height.This article examines the influence of the position and the colour of the blinds on the cooling consumption of an office building with a double-skin facade.