Perspectives of double skin façade systems in buildings and energy saving

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.