Modeling and Simulation of Ventilated Double-Skin Facade Using EnergyPlus

Double-skin facade systems (DSF), as one of the newest kind of envelops of buildings, is attracting more and more architects and investors' attention in China. The skins can be air tight or ventilated. As for the ventilated DSF, airflow passing through the cavity can be naturally driven, mechanically driven, or a combination of both. According to some previous studies, buildings constructed with DSF may have better energy performance than the conventional single-skin facade. The problem is that, presently, there are still no official specifications which can help the engineers to thoroughly understand the complex thermal and airflow behavior of DSF. This paper presents a detailed simulation process for an office building equipped with naturally ventilated DSF under the climatic condition in Changsha. A theoretical model is developed via the EnergyPlus simulation program to evaluate the thermal performance of double-skin facade with different configurations. The results obtained in this paper can be valuable for engineers to do some optimization work during the design process under the hot summer and cold winter climates. It indicates that a reasonably constructed DSF can provide an annual saving of around 30 % in building cooling energy, and up to 10 % as for the heating energy, compared to a conventional single-skin facade.