Climatic based consideration of Double Skin Facade system-comparative analysis of energy performance of a Double Skin Facade Building in Boston

This study compares the energy performance of different configuration of double skin facades vs. single skin facade during prevailing summer, winter and shoulder season. While a great deal of interest exists in learning how to integrate DSFs into our current architecture, there is a little knowledge or demonstration of how the concept might work in the US climatic contexts. The primary goal of this research is to clarify the state-of-the-art performance of DSFs, so that designers can assess the value of these building concepts in meeting design goals for energy efficiency, ventilation, productivity, and sustainability. This investigation adopts an analytical approach using dynamic simulation software (Energy Plus/Designbuilder), to understand the performance of a double skin facade based on research rather than intuition. In this paper, a comparative analysis of cooling and heating loads on a single skin base case is compared against three possible changes to the physical properties of the external and internal layer of the double skin facade. Simulation results indicate that a reflective double skin facade can achieve better energy savings than a single skin with reflective glazing.