Energy-saving and visual-thermal performance of multi-sectional DSF system in a typical office room across five climate zones in China

Abstract

The multi-sectional double-skin façade (DSF) system, which combines with Venetian blinds (VBs), ventilation valves and a light shelf system, can dynamically respond to climatic conditions through control strategies, offering great potential in enhancing building energy performance and visual-thermal comfort. This study aims to evaluate the performance of the multi-sectional DSF system through experimental and simulation approaches, with a focus on comparing three cases across five climate zones in China: a single-glazed window with VBs (Case 1), a naturally ventilated DSF with VBs (Case 2), and the multi-sectional DSF system (Case 3). To achieve this, experiments on the indoor daylighting and thermal performance of the multi-sectional DSF system were carried out. The building performance simulation model was set up and validated to evaluate the annual visual-thermal comfort and energy performance of the system. The results showed that: (1) Case 3 achieved the lowest annual EUI, with reductions of 9.6 %-17.1 % compared to Case 1 and 0.7 %-15.5 % compared to Case 2 across five climate zones. (2) Case 3 significantly improved indoor daylight quality, with sUDI_{300–3000 lx} increasing by 8.4 %-21.6 % compared to Case 1 and by 27.4 %-42.2 % compared to Case 2. (3) For overheating discomfort, the average PPD_overheating in Case 3 was 1.3 %-5.1 % lower than in Case 1 but 6.1 %-11.4 % higher than in Case 2 across five climate zones, while the average PPD_overcooling was 1.3 %-3.4 % lower than in Case 1 and -1.3 %-4.2 % lower than in Case 2 across five climate zones.