A Review: Ventilated Double-skin Façades

Abstract

In the aim of reducing the effect of climate change on the environment, multiple energy efficient solutions have been developed in all energy-consuming sectors around the world, especially smart building design strategies in the building sector. One of these technologies are Ventilated Double-Skin Façades (VDFs), which use the thermal interaction between the external environment and the internal space of a building in order to reduce its heating or cooling loads and thus reduce the greenhouse gas emissions. They also offer multiple other benefits, depending on several parameters, including improving the building's thermal and acoustic insulation, and providing natural ventilation and exposure to daylight. The goal of this paper is to provide a review of the available research on VDFs in literature, namely their thermal behavior, the parameters that influence it, and the main criteria used to categorize VDFs.