A Study on the Improvement of Double-Skin Facade Operation for Reducing Heating Load in Winter

Abstract

A double-skin facade makes it possible to gain irradiance through the glass on the outer side in summer, and to increase the temperature of air flowing in the cavity so as to induce the flow of air current. Therefore, a double-skin facade is able to reduce the load of the outer skin, which is delivered from the outside to the inside in summer, and to serve as a buffer space for the internal and external environments in winter, and thereby prevent heat loss from the building envelope. Theoretical analysis was conducted to review the heat effects of a double-skin facade and to evaluate the performance of a plan for indoor load reduction. This study carried out a field measurement of a building with a double-skin facade and then analyzed the thermal phenomenon occurring in between the outer skin of the outside and the skin of the inside facing the building surface, according to the effects of irradiance going into the double-skin facade cavity. In order to propose an indoor air conditioning energy reduction plan using preheated air through the double-skin facade, this study utilized a building simulation to be implemented on the target building and then analyzed the effects of the improvement plan for the double-skin facade. A simulation model was suggested that implemented the aforementioned airflow network and analyzed the ventilation performance and energy performance according to the application of alternative plans and thermal effect. To find the actual state of operation of the double-skin facade in winter, this study measured the target building. A solar chimney-based double-skin facade was analyzed in winter. As a result, with the application of a solar chimney and a rise in its height, the available capacity of relatively larger solar heat increased, and therefore the proposed plan had excellent performance in terms of heating energy saving. When the thermal effect was applied to the solar chimney, the heating energy use effect of the solar irradiance of the double-skin facade was larger. When thermal effect was applied to a three-floor solar chimney, the heating energy use increased to about 7.6 times higher than that of the original performance of the double-skin facade.