Double skin façade glazed office buildings; A parametric study for optimized energyand thermal comfort performance

Highly glazed buildings are often considered to be airy, light and transparent with more access to daylight. Their performance, however, regarding to energy use and thermal comfort issues is often questioned. Passive solar systems such as Double Skin Faades are likely to improve the overall building performance if integratedproperly. This article deals with energy and indoor climate simulations of double skin office buildings in Sweden using a dynamic energy simulation tool. Differenthighly glazed Double Skin Faade alternatives were studied in order to investigate the influence of (a) the geometry, (b) the ventilation strategy, (c) the construction(panes and shading devices) and (d) the control strategy on the building energy performance. Interestingresults were obtained when comparing alternatives with different panes, control strategies and coupling of the Double Skin Faade with the HVAC system. The results are discussed and general suggestions for optimizedperformance are given.