How a Double-Skin Facade Cuts Your Building's Energy Costs
How does the air cavity between two facade layers work like a thermal shield? A technical look at double-skin facade performance in Iran's climate — and the projects it is worth specifying for.
A double-skin facade (Double Skin Facade) consists of two facade layers with an air cavity between them — and that cavity is the whole secret. In summer, the air trapped between the skins heats up, rises and is expelled from the cavity (natural stack ventilation), carrying solar heat away before it ever reaches the interior. In winter, the very same cavity behaves as a transparent insulator: an extra buffer zone standing between the cold outside air and the inner glazed skin.
The measurable results are a lower cooling and heating load, the possibility of natural ventilation through openable windows even on tall, wind-exposed towers, and improved acoustic performance of the facade. Adding louvers or punch metal to the outer skin makes the system more precise still: the second skin stops being just a thermal buffer and becomes an active solar-control layer, tuned to each orientation.
The double-skin facade is the first choice for office towers, government and public buildings, and any project with a low energy-consumption target. But the decision should be made on numbers, not on renderings: our analytical tools can simulate the effect of the second skin on the daylight and energy balance of your specific project before you commit to it — so the second skin is specified where it pays for itself, and skipped where it does not.