Energy Efficient Design of Double Skin Façade, Case Study: an Office Building in Tehran

Double Skin Façades (DSF) is one potential response to two major problems, i.e., low Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) and high energy consumption. The second skin provides thermal comfort, optimal sound performance, and better day lighting and ventilation. Many typologies of DSFs are widely used mostly in countries of cold climates. In Iran, however, they are less known, and therefore, there is no precise information on the optimal typologies suiting different cities with different climates. In this study, the optimal DSF configuration was selected for an office building in Tehran among proposed alternatives using dynamic simulation and evaluation of different spatial configurations, cavity ventilations, and material compositions. The final model was selected based on a minimum energy demand and maximum thermal comfort hours. According to results, utilizing a DSF decreases heating demands and enhances indoor qualities during the warm seasons. The decrease in energy consumption ranges from 28-54 kWh/m2 (minimum 7.9% to maximum 14.8%). The most remarkable result of using the proposed DSFs is significantly reducing the cooling energy demand, nevertheless increasing the lighting energy demand for all alternatives.