On the performance of double skin facades in different environmental conditions.

This paper compares the heating and cooling loads between a double skin façade and a single skin façade in different and contrasting climates. The thermal and lighting properties of both types of facades are calculated, based on the hypothesis of a virtual south facing office room. The results of the above calculations show that in climates with high sunshine duration, the difference in heating and cooling loads is less for a double skin façade in comparison to a single skin facade. This difference ranges from about 30% in the Mediterranean to about 40% in the Arabian peninsula in the case that the single skin building is not equipped with automatic shading devices, whereas in the case that both buildings have automatic shading devices the above percentages range from about 5.5% to 7.5%, respectively. The same difference in heating and cooling loads between the two types of facades is significantly reduced in colder Continental climates such as Moscow, as well as temperate climates such as London. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]