1.1. General
Double-Skin Façades (DSF) are gaining a lot of popularity between architects and engineers because not only it is very appealing for the eye but it also has great features regarding energy saving, sustainability and indoor climate. A lot of office buildings in Europe are DSF based buildings. In the 20th century, the technologies are growing rapidly and because of computers and other technical equipment in the offices, the internal heat gain has increased. In this case, it is important to preserve comfort and reduce cooling costs (Elisabeth Gratia, Andrè De Herde, 2007). That is where DSF comes in and plays an important role not only aesthetically, but also decreases the risk of overheating indoors and provides …show more content…
Usually our buildings are built in a simple static system, which are not designed to coexist with surrounding climate. In the last years the situation started to change because the buildings started to take advantage from the surrounding climate and area. The DSF concept is relatively new which act together with the local weather conditions. In many literatures, Double-Skin Facades are compared to the human skin. For exmpale, human pores open in hot weather to cool down the temperature and keep comfort, in cold winter times, the pores closes. DSF acts in the same way, openings of it opens and closes to keep the comfort of the building environment (Kalyanova, O. …show more content…
In my opinion, since it is popular to install shading systems, which reacts to direct sunlight, it creates good conditions for indoor climate and especially people. One of the most important things that people are dependent for quality work and even living is the temperature created indoors. So the thermal aspect of DSF, of course if it is designed, calculated properly and maintained, can bring good benefits for indoor environment.
From the visual aspect, DSF gives aesthetical comfort as well as visual, such as avoiding glare (Harris Poirazis, 2004). This is also achieved with shading systems which improves indoors envornment.
From acoustic aspect, DSF can reduce the penetration of noise from the outside, such as traffic. Also DSF improves acoustical performance inside the building.
Finally, from ventilation aspect, DSF has a great way of using natural ventilation within the cavity and provide air to the multi-storey buildings. The main feature is that in winter times solar radiation can preheat the air in the cavity and provide heating as well as ventilation for the