Energy performance of Double-Skin Façades in temperate climates: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Double Skin Façades (DSFs) are applied in both new and existing buildings, especially in temperate climates. Research in this area is steadily growing; however, there is a lack of conclusive results in available literature about energy performances related to the DSF, thus limiting a better and more informed application of this technology in the Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector. This article systematically reviews more than 50 articles which have dealt with the energy related performance of DSFs in temperate climates and provide a meta-analysis of the numerical findings published in the studies examined. Energy related figures are presented separately for embodied and operational energy. Specifically, the operational energy end-uses taken into account are heating, cooling, lighting, and ventilation. Numerical results in the literature are normalised and expressed in form of percentage of maximum energy reduction/increment compared to a base case (e.g. a single skin case) used as a reference in the corresponding studies. Such an approach is meant to provide a reliable comparison of published figures. Key façade parameters (DSF spatial configurations, cavity width and ventilation), building parameters (orientation and climatic areas) and the methodological approaches used in the reviewed studies were adopted as clustering criteria. Several clustering criteria present extremely spread values, indicating the necessity to further investigate, understand, and attempt to reduce such high discrepancies in operational energy performances. Additionally, and more importantly, almost no information exists on DSFs life cycle energy figures, highlighting an important gap that requires further research.