COMPORTAMIENTO TÉRMICO DE LAS FACHADAS VENTILADAS EN EDIFICACIÓN

Abstract

Losses and heat gains through the facades have a significant influence on annual consumption of heating and cooling of buildings. Moreover, there is a recent trend among some architects considering facades as sophisticated membranes that should be carefully designed. Although the use of double-skin façades (glass skins separated by a cavity) in the construction sector and their thermal benefits have been widely studied quantitatively over the last 30 years, the rainscreen ventilated façade (characterized by an open joint opaque external skin) has received less attention and there are still few studies that focus on their energy performance. In this article we review the latest contributions to the thermal behavior of ventilated facades including the most recent studies on the use of natural ventilation in buildings as an alternative system to reduce energy demand. Keywords: Ventilated facades; natural ventilation; energy efficiency in buildings