Thermal comfort performance of a state of the art single skin facade compared to ventilated double facades.

Optimal transparency and daylight combined with the possibility to apply natural ventilation and a shading device in the cavity in high-rise buildings are main advantages of ventilated double façades over single skin façades. Application of a fully glazed single skin façade often used to result in high energy consumption due to the poor thermal properties of the glazing. The concept of a ventilated double façade is invented with the intention of improving the thermal qualities of a fully glazed façade. In low-rise buildings the performance of a ventilated double façade can also be achieved with a much cheaper single skin façade, although the costs of glazing rise quickly if a higher sound insulation is needed. It is therefore important to determine which performance has to be achieved in order to choose between a ventilated double façade and a single skin façade. Besides this new concept of ventilated double façade, the properties of the single glazed façade have improved over the years. The aim of this study was to compare different ventilated double facades to a state of the art single skin façade and determine which façade has the best overall performance. To compare the façades an evaluation the four facades are compared with each other using the results of measurements to find out their thermal performances aspects. The four facades are: the single skin façade of the Effenaar, the second skin façade of the Kennedy Business Centre, the ventilated double window of the ABT office and the second skin façade of the Bouwhuis. Measurements were performed on all façades for a period of one week. These measurements, which took place in the winter, and the gathering of information, resulted in an evaluation of the total performance of the façades.