Horizontal and Vertical Movable Drop-Down Shades Performance in Double Skin Facade of Office Buildings; Evaluation and Parametric Simulation

Building skins and facades have an important role in reducing energy consumption. The double skin façade (DSF) as a passive solar system reduces significantly the heating load during cold periods. However, during warm periods or in areas with warm climates, the building’s cooling load increases due to the high temperature of the intermediate cavity. The use of shades is one of the effective approaches to building’s cooling load. The fixed shades block solar beam radiation in winter. On the other hand, movable shading devices can be adjusted in optimal angle to changing outdoor conditions in which more effective control of sky diffuse radiation may be obtained. In this paper, the effects of horizontal and vertical drop-down fixed and movable shades have been investigated on double skin facade energy consumption in office buildings. The office building and parametric modeling of shades are created using Rhino software and Grasshopper plug-in, respectively. A standard office room with the dimensions of 5m×4m and a 3m height and a southward window was examined in the modeling process. The simulation results suggest that movable shades have more efficient function than their fix state. The horizontal moving shade has also the most optimal state and has the lowest annual energy consumption. The total amount of energy consumption in horizontal movable shades, the most optimal option, is 34 % compared to horizontal drop-down fix shade, is 11.87% and 1.37%, respectively, compared to the fix and moving vertical drop-down and is 50.69% more efficient compared to double skin facade without shades.