Effect of Double Skin Facade Air Cavity and Orientation on Energy Efficiency in Hot-Dry Clime Buildings

Abstract

Institutional buildings are very important facilities that contribute to the development of every nation. Previous studies indicated that energy efficiency is the key challenge in hot dry climate buildings. This is due to the nature of building form, orientation and the risk of exposing building envelope to solar radiation, which attracts consumption of energy in tropical climate. This study aims at employing double skin facade to reduce the level of energy consumption for cooling in hot-dry climate buildings. The study examined energy performance of double skin facade with respect to effect of different horizontal distances in air cavity and orientation. Experimental study was conducted through Ecotect simulation software to study energy performance of double skin facade in hot dry clime using weather data of the same climate region. The study established that 900mm double skin facade air cavity depth reduced cooling energy by 31% in hot-dry climate and designing double skin facade on south orientation in hot-dry climate reduced cooling energy consumption by 4%.