Perspectives of double skin façades for naturally ventilated buildings: A review

This paper identifies the parameters affecting the thermal and energy performance of buildings with double skin façades (DSFs). It reviews the state of the art of current body of literature about the application of DSF technologies in order to provide guidelines to optimise such designs in naturally ventilated buildings. Three groups of parameters are identified as having significant impact on the DSF performance: the 'façade' parameters, which comprise the features of the cavity and the external layer of the façade; the 'building' parameters, which are those related to the physical configurations of the building; and the 'site' parameters, which are related to the effects of the outdoor environmental conditions on the building and the DSF behaviours. For each group of parameters, a comprehensive table is compiled summarizing the main findings of the studies that directly and indirectly contribute to the understanding and implementation of such technology. Guidelines established for the design of naturally ventilated buildings indicated potential application of DSF for improving the indoor thermal comfort even in warmer regions. However, further investigations expanding the analysis beyond the cavity are needed in order to evaluate the influence of the DSF on the thermal comfort in the user space. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.