This study investigates the energy efficiency potential of buffer-type double-skin facades (DSFs) in cold climate office buildings, specifically examining their performance in Stockholm, Sweden. The research focuses on optimizing cavity width as a critical design parameter to minimize heating and cooling energy consumption while maintaining acceptable indoor thermal comfort levels.
The methodology employed IDA ICE 5.1 building simulation software to model a hypothetical 100-square-meter office building with varying DSF cavity widths of 60 cm, 90 cm, and 120 cm. The building was equipped with district heating for space heating and an active beam system for cooling and ventilation. Thermal performance was evaluated against a base model featuring a conventional single-skin facade with 50% window-to-wall ratio on the south-facing orientation.
Results demonstrate that buffer-type DSFs significantly improve energy efficiency in cold climates compared to conventional facades. The base model required 103.5 kWh/m² for heating, while all DSF configurations reduced heating demand to approximately 96.89 kWh/m², representing a 6.4% reduction in heating energy consumption. However, cooling demand increased from 0.33 kWh/m² in the base model to approximately 2.18 kWh/m² for DSF configurations. Cavity width variations between 60-120 cm showed approximately no diffrence on overall energy performance.