Thermal and energy analysis of double-skin façades

Abstract

Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Malta, 16-18 July, 2012.

The use of double-skin glazed façades and other façade cladding, forming the so-called ventilated chamber, has been extended nowadays as bioclimatic building improvements. Double façades are constructed to allow ventilation in buildings and to prevent noise from outside but have as well a significant influence on their energy consumption. In the present work an experimental setup was carried out with two enclosures of insulating walls, one with a single glass façade and the other one with double glazed façade with a ventilation air chamber. Some of the values of the global inner temperatures and solar radiation measured on the experimental setup for the most representative days are presented. It is found that the internal temperatures are clearly different on both setups in the period of higher irradiation. Experimental measurements taken along several months show a temperature difference between both configurations ranging from 5ºC to 10ºC. A finite element simulation has also been performed in transient regime to analyze the thermal behavior of both cells. The experimental results and those obtained through simulations are in good agreement in terms of temperatures. The numerical simulation provides also the heat flux exchanges taking place in the modeled cells. The associated energy analysis shows an impact on the energy saving of the building of about 20%.