Determining the Optimal Opening for Multi Skin Facade with External Ventilation
Presented on November 21, 2024 at Facade Tectonics 2024 World Congress
Sign in and Register
Create an Account
Overview
Abstract
The envelope of the Harbin Bank Building in Beijing has a Multi-Skin Facade where the outer cavity is naturally ventilated. During the design the client raised some critical questions:
- What is the optimal size of the openings?
- How will outside air move through the outer cavity?
- If there is wind against the facade then the top and bottom openings will be equally pressured, so how will air still move through the outer cavity?
These points obviously concerned the client and the solutions had to be explained in plain and simple terms. This paper describes the design of the Multi-Skin Facade and explains with the aid of aero physics how the outer cavity functions under different external temperatures and different wind pressures against the facade. The result of the various investigations was an optimum ventilation opening for the outer skin.
Authors
Peter Simmonds
Principal
Building and Systems Analytics
peter@petersimmonds.com
Keywords
Introduction
The project brief was straightforward: Provide 40,000 square meters of energy-efficient office space for Harbin Bank’s new headquarters in Beijing. What wasn’t so clear-cut was instruction from the bank’s chairman
Access Restricted
Background – The construction of the façade
As stated before the façade was to be aesthetically pleasing and fully functional, so the choice of glazing was critical. In order to evaluate the performance of the double skin
Access Restricted
The Alternative Façade Constructions
Alternative 1- MSF-1 consisted of the original GL-1 glazing and the original GL-2 glazing which comprised of 8mm YBE 0.138 (2#) + 12 mm Ar (Argon) +6mm clear glass
The Multi
Access Restricted
Method
Aero physics is not a discipline or term with which one is generally familiar in building, although it has played a role in construction for several years now. Aero physics
Access Restricted
Explanation
From the previous results we knew the climate façade performs well during the summer, the question arises whether the ventilated cavities are required to be closed during the winter months
Access Restricted
Conclusion
The methodology presented in this paper show how understanding the physics of multi skin facades can be used to prove the air movement through the cavity and the openings to
Access Restricted
Acknowledgements
Special thanks go to Russell Gilchrist of Gensler, who knew exactly what buttons to push in order to obtain the results he wanted.
Rights and Permissions
ASHRAE 2017. ASHRAE handbook - 2017 fundamentals. Atlanta: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.
ROOM - "A method to predict thermal comfort at any point in a space", Copyright OASYS Ltd. developed by ARUP Research and Development, London, England.
Simmonds P., 1991 "A Building’s Thermal Inertia", CIBSE National Conference 1991.
Simmonds P., 1991 "The Utilization and Optimization of a Building's Thermal Inertia in Minimizing the Overall Energy Use", ASHRAE Transactions 1991 V97 Pt2.
Simmonds P. et al. 2012, Tilted Glazing in building simulations and its effect on form refinement of complex facades simbuild 2012 Co-Author
Simmonds P. and Getov P, 2013, AIA Monterrey design Conference Epidermis/Hypothalamus: Building Envelope as a factor controlling occupant thermal comfort Co-Author
Simmonds P., 2013, 12th International Conference on Sustainable Energy Technologies Designing an intelligent building skin for occupant comfort
Simmonds, P., and Zhu, R., (2013) Stack Effect Guidelines for Tall, Mega Tall and Super Tall Buildings, International Journal of High-Rise Buildings, December 2013, Vol 2, No 4, 1-8
Simmonds P. and Getov P., 2013, Building Enclosure Sustainability Symposium 2013, Designing a Breathing Skin Co-Author
Simmonds, P., (2015) The new ASHRAE Design Guide for Tall, Supertall and Megatall Building Systems, ASHRAE 2015
Simmonds P., 2016, What are the heating and cooling loads generated from a high-performance facade? Facade Tectonics, 2016
Simmonds, p., and Gilchrist, R, (2018) Climate effects on tall, supertall and megatall buildings, Facade Tectonics, 2018
Tamblyn, R. T. (1991). Coping with air pressure problems in tall buildings. ASHRAE Transactions 97(1), pp. 824~827.
Tamblyn, R. T. (1993). HVAC system effects for tall buildings. ASHRAE Transactions 99(2), pp. 789~792.
Welty J.R., Wicks E.E. and Wilson R.E. 1969, Fundamentals of Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer, John Wiley and Sons, Inc. New York.