The Influence of Wind Velocity and Wind Distribution on the Double Skin Façades with Different Width Corridors in DSF Cavities

The building facade plays an important role in achieving thermal comfort and energy conservation. A Double Skin Facade (DSF) is an envelope system, which has an external and internal layer that contains a buffer space used for controlled ventilation and solar protection. Due to technological advances, transparency and the use of glass has become an attractive facade option in architectural design. Building glass facades can provide outdoor views and an excellent level of natural light as well as the potential for natural ventilation. Double skin façades (DSF) are architectural elements that have increased in popularity in modern buildings. They have been developed as an alternative technology to improve the thermal performance of conventional fully glazed buildings. Also they have been widely used as a way to reduce the thermal instability of inner spaces caused by the growing use of large glazed areas in buildings. This concept has provided the possibility of improved sound insulation, pre-heating air for ventilation, and protection of solar shading in urban areas. DSF’s can achieve reduction of winter heating requirements. However, when the building is under summer conditions or located in moderate or hot climates, heat gains are predominant and the cost of cooling becomes a major issue. The improvement of the system is necessary when working under hot climatic conditions. There is a significant lack of information in the current literature to demonstrate the complexity and challenges in designing large, mechanically ventilated buildings. For these types of buildings, it is important to have the tools to evaluate a design‘s predicted performance to achieve successful natural ventilation concepts. However, with the use of glass, heat loss during the winter and solar gain during the summer will increase energy loads. This is especially true when the new double-skin facade (DSF) configuration is used as a means of conserving energy while providing superior thermal comfort. This is specifically the case when the façade has to perform under extreme or moderate summer conditions. The characteristics of thermal overheating of a specific type of DSF with various configurations and its practical control have not been subjected to systematic experimental and computational investigations. Previous research suggested that the use of ventilated facades contributes towards the energy reduction of indoor thermal gains. The use of a ventilated channel reduces temperatures in the facade, though indoor thermal conditions have to be assessed in relation to the facade configuration as part of the compliance of the system to the building requirements. Most of the study regarding a facade and energy-comfort modeling combination are restricted to only one DSF typology. This study attempts to analyze a mechanically ventilated building with DSF configuration - building in terms of indoor thermal comfort. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of wind velocity and wind distribution on mechanically ventilated buildings with DSF configuration, to determine if a DSF configuration will provide a better thermal comfort through natural ventilation. Another aim of this study is to investigate the performance of a new DSF configuration for an - building in terms of thermal comfort in a humid climate. By using the CFD program, this study were analyzed the thermal comfort statuses of different width corridors with double skin facades. Also the thermal comfort indices, PMV and PPD values, were calculated both in FloEFD and Design Builder to study the thermal comfort inside the building.