Energy and Buildings 37 (2005) 563–572

www.elsevier.com/locate/enbuild

Effects of double glazed facade on energy consumption,

thermal comfort and condensation for a typical
office building in Singapore
Wong Nyuk Hien*, Wang Liping, Aida Noplie Chandra,
Anupama Rana Pandey, Wei Xiaolin
Department of Building, National University of Singapore, 4 Architecture Drive, Singapore 117566, Singapore
Received 7 June 2004; received in revised form 11 August 2004; accepted 12 August 2004

Abstract

Fully glazed facade that has been increasingly used in Singapore causes higher energy consumption and thermal discomfort due to higher
solar gain. The use of double glazed facade system with ventilation system is one way to solve these problems. The objective of this paper is to
investigate the effects of double glazed facade with ventilation system on the energy consumption, thermal comfort and condensation and
compare to single glazed facade system. TAS and CFD software were utilized to calculate energy consumption, thermal comfort and
condensation for single glazed facade building as well as double glazed facade building. The simulation results showed double glazed facade
with natural ventilation were able to minimize energy consumption as well as to enhance the thermal comfort. Turning the mechanical fans on
could also solve the condensation problem due to high humidity.
# 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Double glazed facade; TAS; CFD simulation

1. Introduction 2. Literature review

Fully glazed facade system has been increasingly used in
Singapore due to its unique advantages. It can reduce the
lighting energy consumption by making full use of
daylighting and can provide full external view. However,
high energy consumption, thermal discomfort and noise
control problems are associated with the single glazed
facade system.
Double glazed facade ventilation system has been
investigated to overcome the problems pertaining to single
glazed facade system. It is believed that double glazed
facade with ventilation could save energy, provide thermal
comfort and improve acoustic performance by the additional
glass layer in down town area with high level traffic noise.
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: bdgnh@nus.edu.sg (W.N. Hien).
In recent years, a number of experimental, numerical and
theoretical investigations have contributed to a better
understanding of the double facade ventilation systems.
Pasquay [12] has monitored three buildings with double
facade. Three types of building have been investigated in
this study. All the air conditioning facilities of Siemens
building in Dortmund have been removed and the facade
undertakes ventilation task for the whole building. The
results showed that even though the temperature in facade
space rose up to 10 8C above outdoor temperature, the inside
temperature stayed in halfway acceptable limits. Victoria
Insurance Company in Düsseldorf had cooling equipment
without mechanical ventilation. Although the temperature in
the facade space rose up to 8 8C above outside temperature, a
temperature of 26 8C for the whole year only exceeded 46 h.
RWE Tower in Essen had both cooling equipment and
mechanical fan. The average temperature in the facade space

0378-7788/$ – see front matter # 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2004.08.004
564 W.N. Hien et al. / Energy and Buildings 37 (2005) 563–572

rose up to 15 8C above the air temperature in front of the

facade. However, the temperature in the facade space affects
the room temperature marginally.
Manz [11] used a spectral optical model and a
computational fluid dynamic model to simulate the total
solar energy transmittance to the interior. The influence of
layer sequence and ventilation properties on the thermal
behavior is discussed in detail. A spectral optical model
combined with a CFD model that includes convection,
conduction and radiation, is therefore recommended for
analyzing and optimizing glass double facade. It was shown
that the secondary internal heat transfer factor can be
reduced by 2% and total solar energy transmittance values
could be reduced by 10% with a well-designed GDF (glass
double facade) element with free convection.
Gratia and Herde [1] compared the thermal behaviors of
the building between double glazed facade and single glazed
facade by using TAS software. They recommended Fig. 1. Zone layout for single glazed facade.
operating the double glazed facade according to the climatic
conditions. Furthermore, Gratia and Herde [2] also analyzed 6th story. The internal layout of the single glazed facade
the double glazed facade behavior considering facade model is shown in Fig. 1. The second model is double glazed
orientation, wind orientation and degree of wind protection. facade system with stack effect ventilation. External heat
They noted that wind effect and stack force sometimes offset absorption glazed layer was added 1 m away from inner
each other. facade. The third model is double glazed facade system with
Balcoo [3] proposed a non-dimensional analysis for mechanical fan ventilation. The mechanical fans were
energy and thermal performance study for a natural installed on the top of the double facade space to accelerate
ventilated double facade. The non-dimensional analysis the air movement. The zone layout of double glazed facade
results have been validated with experimental and CFD is shown in Fig. 2. Input parameters for each model and
simulation results. The method can be applied to all natural material specification are shown in Tables 1 and 2,
ventilated facade typology. respectively. Annual mean vertical solar radiation intensities
Grabe [4] developed a simulation algorithm for for clear days in Singapore [5] for each orientation have been
temperature and flow characteristics of double facade to used for simulation conditions. CFD simulation results are
assist energy consultant to make quick decision without shown in Table 3.
using CFD tools.
Since Singapore has a tropical humid climate, it is less
possible to use full natural ventilation for office buildings 4. Results and discussion
and natural ventilation for facade space has been recom-
mended. However, to date, few studies have been carried out 4.1. Energy consumption
to investigate energy performance for air conditioned
buildings with naturally ventilated facade in the tropical 4.1.1. Annual energy demand comparison for different
climate. The objective of this paper is to investigate the storeys
impacts of naturally ventilated facade on energy consump- It is interesting that cooling loads are increasing from low
tion for air-conditioned buildings. storey to high storey, which is mainly due to the increase of
solar heat gain with the height of facade. Fig. 3 shows the

3. Methodology

TAS and CFD simulation have been used for this study.
TAS is a multi-zone simulation software for energy
consumption, thermal comfort issue and condensation
problems. In order to obtain the precise air change rate
for facade space, CFD simulation has been implemented to
calculate airflow field of the double facade.
Basically, three models were developed for this study.
The first model is a six-storey building with full single
glazed facade system. The simulation was run from 2nd to Fig. 2. Layout for double glazed facade model.
 W.N. Hien et al. / Energy and Buildings 37 (2005) 563–572 565

Table 1 Table 3
Building data CFD simulation results
Single Double glazed Double glazed Double glazed Double glazed
glazed facade with facade with facade with facade with
facade stack effect mechanical fan stack effect mechanical fan
Floor to floor 4.5 4.5 4.5 Grids 30  100 30  100
height (m) grids were divided grids were divided
Zones/floor 5 9 9 in 1 m  30 m in 1 m  30 m
Total zones 25 45 45 domain domain
Dry bulb 23–25 23–25 23–25 Ventilation type Stack effect in Mechanical fans
temperature (8C) the facade cavity
Relative humidity (%) 75 75 75 Ventilation rate (ACH) North: 111 320 for north, east,
Infiltration of 0.2 ach 0.2 ach 0.2 ach south and west zones
air change rate each zone each zone each zone East: 131
Lighting load (W/m2) North: 16.7 North: 16.7 North: 16.7 South: 113
East: 16.3 East: 16.3 East: 16.3 West: 131
South: 16.7 South: 16.7 South: 16.7
West: 16.3 West: 16.3 West: 16.3
Internal: 3.1 Internal: 3.1 Internal: 3.1
fans. Although there is a high improvement of air change
Sources: [9,10,13].
rate for the double facade with the aid of mechanical fan, the
third model does not drastically reduce the cooling loads. It
cooling loads and solar heat gains profile along the height of seems that ventilation has not much effect on decreasing the
double facade. cooling loads.
In order to study the effectiveness of ventilation inside the
4.1.2. Annual energy demand comparison for different double facade for heat extraction, two more scenarios have
orientations been investigated for this study—one with double facade
Higher solar heat gain was found in the east–west without ventilation and the other with extremely high
orientation, which contributes to the higher cooling load. ventilation (999 ACH). It can be seen that there is about
Since double glazed facade is able to decrease the solar heat 100 MWh/year cooling load reduction if single facade has
gain, the cooling load demands are more uniform for double been convert to double facade (single facade model and DF
glazed facade with stack effect and double glazed facade with no ventilation). This could be attributed to solar gain
with mechanical fan compare to single glazed facade reduction with the aid of double facade. If natural ventilation
(Fig. 4). with stack effect has been considered, there will be further
cooling load reduction of about 23.6 MWh/year. It can be
4.1.3. Annual cooling loads among three models seen that double facade with natural ventilation has a good
It can be seen from Fig. 5 that cooling loads has been potential to reduce energy consumption. There is about
drastically reduced with the help of double facade (nearly 1.3 MWh/year and 0.6 MWh/year cooling load reduction, if
120 MWh/year). This can be attributed to two factors. One is the model has been converted from no mechanical fan to
the high reduction of solar heat gains. The other one is the 2 m/s mechanical fan and from 2 m/s mechanical fan (the
ventilation of the facade to extract heat and cool down the third model) to 6 m/s mechanical fan (full ventilation in
internal surface temperature. However, it is interesting to see double facade) respectively. It can be explained that double
that there is no much difference in energy consumption facade with purely stack effect can be effective enough to
between double glazed facade with stack effect and double extract heat inside the double facade and cool down the
facade with mechanical fan. There is very small cooling load
reduction (about 1.3 MWh/year) with the aid of mechanical

Table 2
Material specification
Single glazed Double glazed Double glazed
facade facade with facade with
stack effect mechanical fan
Glass Clear double Clear double Clear double
glazed with glazed with internal glazed with internal
internal blind blind for internal side; blind for internal side;
6 mm heat absorption 6 mm heat absorption
glass for external side glass for external side
Roof Concrete slab Concrete slab Concrete slab
(U = 0.25 (U = 0.25 (U = 0.25
Fig. 3. Cooling loads and solar heat gains profile along height of double
W/m2 8C) W/m2 8C) W/m2 8C)
facade.
566 W.N. Hien et al. / Energy and Buildings 37 (2005) 563–572
Fig. 4. Cooling loads and solar gains profile for four orientations.
surface, which makes the effect of mechanical ventilation in
the double facade on the energy consumption minimum.
On the other hand, with the increase of ventilation rates in
double facade, the cooling load reduction profile can be seen
Fig. 5. Cooling loads summary for five scenarios.
clearly. With the aid of ventilation inside the double facade,
it can exhaust the heat absorbed by the second layer and cool
down surface temperature. The following Figs. 6 and 7 show
the surface temperature profile of second layer glazed wall
for each scenario. A typical floor at 4th floor with East
orientation was chosen for the surface temperature
comparison. It is interesting to see that double facade with
no ventilation is the worst scenario for external surface
temperature with the most probable temperature of around
37–38 8C. For the other scenarios with double facade, the
most probable external surface temperature is about 34–
35 8C. The most probable external surface temperature for
single facade is the lowest of about 33–34 8C. That is to say,
double facade cannot reduce the external surface tempera-
ture; on the contrary, double glazed facade has increased the
surface temperature due to green house effect. It traps the
solar radiation into the double facade. Significantly, it can
reduce the internal surface temperature to obtain the aim of
reducing cooling loads. For the internal surface temperature,
the most probable temperature for the single facade is the
highest around 35–36 8C. The most probable temperature
for the double facade with no ventilation is around 32–33 8C
due to low solar heat gains. The most probable temperature
for the double facade with ventilation is the lowest around
31–32 8C. Actually, from the results, the double facade with
mechanical scenario has less frequency to obtain the range
of 33–34 8C than double facade with stack effect. This could
be the reason why cooling loads for double facade with
mechanical fan are slightly lower than those for double
facade with purely stack effect.
4.1.4. Energy saving calculation
With the aid of double facade and ventilation, dehumidify
loads and internal gains are almost the same for each
scenario. The main benefits for double facade are to reduce
the annual cooling loads and reduce the solar gains for the
second layer. 0.07 $/kWh has been assumed for cost saving
calculation [14].
The calculation results show that with the double facade
with purely stack effect, $ 8451.45 per year could be
expected to be saved for cooling loads reduction. When
mechanical fan has been mounted, another $ 100–130 per
year are expected to be saved.
4.2. Thermal comfort
Thermal comfort was studied in second, fourth and
sixth storey for all the three models. Two typical days were
chosen representing the two main seasons of Singapore. 20
June represents warm and dry season whereas 21
December represents relatively cool and rainy season.
PMV and PPD indexes were calculated based on Fanger’s
thermal comfort model for all orientations of each model.
Comparative study among zones and models were carried
out. Thermal comfort is a condition in which 80% of
people do not express dissatisfaction [6]. Moreover,
 W.N. Hien et al. / Energy and Buildings 37 (2005) 563–572 567

Fig. 6. External surface temperature profiles for the inner layer glazed wall.

Brager and Dear [7] noted that 20% of PPD corresponds to
the limits of 0.85 PMV. PMV index less than 0.85 is
classified as unacceptably cold and more than +0.85 is
classified as unacceptably hot.
Values for air temperature, RH and MRT were retrieved
from the results generated by TAS simulation. The
metabolic rate and clothing insulation of the subjects were
determined to be 1.2 and 0.57, respectively. Air velocity
inside the air-conditioned room was taken as 0.15 m/s for the
calculation.
4.2.1. PMV and PPD among three models
From Table 4, PPD indexes was found to be lower for
double glazed facade with stack effect and mechanical fan
compare to single glazed facade. However, difference
between double glazed facade with stack effect and double
glazed facade with mechanical fan was negligible. Single
facade system failed to achieve thermal comfort since the
PPD value was higher than 20%.
Mean values of PPD shows that, if double glazed facade
is chosen over single glazed facade, 5% more people seem to
be satisfied. However, only 0.05% more people are satisfied
if double glazed facade with mechanical fan is chosen over
double glazed facade with stack effect.
From Figs. 8 and 9, PMV and PPD indexes for June are
higher than December for all models due to cooler weather
in December. Highest thermal comfort level is achieved in
northern zone second storey of double glazed facade during
December. Lowest thermal comfort level is happened in
eastern and western zone sixth floor of single glazed facade
during June.
4.2.2. PMV and PPD comparison among different storeys
Increasing trend of PPD and PMV on the higher storeys
has been observed for both single and double facade systems
due to higher solar heat gain on higher storeys. The rate of
raise is quite consistent for single facade system whereas a
sudden raise has been observed on the upper floors for
double facade system. This could be explained by increase
of temperature in the facade cavities both as a function of
height of a building and higher solar gains.
From Fig. 10, it has been observed that most
uncomfortable floor during both seasons is sixth floor. For
double glazed facade, almost all floors for both seasons

Fig. 7. Internal surface temperature profiles for the internal layer glazed wall.
568 W.N. Hien et al. / Energy and Buildings 37 (2005) 563–572

Table 4
Mean values of PMV and PPD for three scenarios
Single facade Double facade Double facade
(NV) (MV)
June December June December June December
PMV 0.96 0.89 0.82 0.78 0.81 0.77
PPD (%) 24.5 22.0 19.6 18.0 19.5 18.0

achieve thermal comfort except the sixth floor, which is

unable to achieve thermal comfort level during June with
maximum PPD of 23%.

4.2.3. PMV and PPD comparison among different zones

The highest PPD was observed in east and west zone
whereas lowest is in south on every floor during June.
Similarly highest PPD was observed in east and west zone
during December but the lowest PPD during this month was
observed in north zone. Southern zone is coolest during June
whereas northern zone is coolest during December. This is
because the sun rises further south of east during the
December solstice and further north of east during the June
solstice [8]. Since Singapore is located on equatorial region
sun path is towards south of the Zenith during December
solstice and towards north during June solstice. South facade
gains higher solar radiation than the north during December
solstice whereas north facade gains higher solar radiation
than south during June solstice. However, the temperature
Fig. 10. PPD variations in three floor levels on 20 June.
fluctuations over the time of the year would not vary much
and unlike the temperate region, there are no seasonal
changes.
Since east and west orientations have higher solar heat
gain, the PPD values are higher compare to north and south
orientations. PPD and PMV variation for single glazed
facade is higher than the double glazed facade, as shown in
Figs. 11 and 12. The uniformity of PMVand PPD value in all
orientation for double glazed facade can be achieved
because of the effectiveness of stack effect in east and west
orientation in extracting the solar heat gain.

4.3. Condensation

For condensation study, seven different days were chosen

Fig. 8. PPD values for single and double facade.
to represent extreme and moderate climatic conditions in
Singapore. These are 2 January, 3 June, 30 May, 16 April, 17
September, 1 November and 15 November. For these days,
the occurrence of condensation was checked in every zone
and every surface of the building. After that, the rate of each
occurrence was noted and tabulated to find the extent of
condensation among three scenarios. Each orientation was
divided into three surfaces namely left surface (Surface 1),
middle surface (Surface 2), and right surface (Surface 3).
Fig. 13 shows the place where condensation may occur.

Fig. 9. PMV values for single and double facade. Fig. 11. PPD variations in different zones: June (single glazed facade).
 W.N. Hien et al. / Energy and Buildings 37 (2005) 563–572
Fig. 12. PPD variations in different zones: December (single glazed facade).
Fig. 13. Layout of condensation’s occurrence on glazed surface.
4.3.1. Analysis of 3 June, 30 May and 17 November
On 3 June, 30 May and 17 November, when ambient
temperature was 26.5–30 8C and RH was around 70–85%
during the day, no condensation was found. Condensation
was also not found during the night, whereas ambient
temperature was 25–26.5 8C and RH was 85–95%, and
Fig. 14. Comparison of condensation on 1 November: midnight.
569
reached 100% in the morning. This happened because the
temperature difference between external surface and
ambient temperature was only 0.1–0.3 8C during the night,
although the RH was very high. Therefore, water vapors did
not reach their saturation point. During the day, when the
surface temperature was 29–34 8C, and ambient temperature
was 25–30 8C, RH 50–95%, condensation was also not
found.
4.3.2. Analysis of 1 November
On 1 November condensation was found at 2nd and 3rd
model during midnight. But no condensation was found for
single glazed facade (Fig. 14). This was happened because
single glazed facade has same temperature (25 8C) for
ambient and surface temperature. But temperature in the
double glazed cavity was 25.7–26 8C, whereas the inside
surface temperature of external skin was 25.1 8C. Therefore,
condensation occurred. The rate of condensation for 2nd and
3rd model is similar since during the night there was no
difference in circumstances between them.
Fig. 15 shows the layout and section of the place when
condensation is happened. It is clearly shown from the 4th
scenario that when the mechanical fan is operated during the
night, it is very effective in removing the condensation by
lowering the ambient temperature in double glazed cavity
from 25.7–26 8C to 25 8C, which is closer to the internal
surface temperature (25.1–25–2 8C).
The rates of condensation of east–west orientation tend to
be lower than north–south orientation due to differences in
surface temperature between both surfaces. The heat
absorption glass for east–west orientation absorbs more
heat and retain it compare to north–south orientation during
the day, therefore their surface temperature is higher than
north–south orientation during the night.
4.3.3. Analysis of 2 January
On 2 January, the highest RH day in Singapore,
condensations were found from 9.00 p.m. until 6.00–
8.00 a.m. the following morning. This was happened on
both internal and external surface of heat absorption glass.
570 W.N. Hien et al. / Energy and Buildings 37 (2005) 563–572

Fig. 15. Layout and section of condensation place.

Fig. 16 shows the layouts of condensation at 10.00 p.m.,
and the section shows the occurrence of condensation on left
surface, facing west. Again, no condensation was found for
single glazed facade, but it happened on 2nd and 3rd model
on the inside and outside of heat absorption glass.
Operations of mechanical fans were successful in removing
all condensation on the inside surface and partly of the
outside surface, but still unsuccessful in removing con-
densation on the left and right of outside surface of heat
absorption glass, as shown in Fig. 17.
Surface temperature plays an important role in determin-
ing the occurrence of condensation. For single glazed facade
since the surface temperature is similar to ambient
temperature (24 8C), condensation does not occur. For the
2nd and 3rd model, condensation occurred due to lower
surface temperature of heat absorption glass (23.7 8C) as
compared to ambient temperature in the double glazed
cavity (24.2–25.7 8C).
4.3.4. Comparison of condensation’s rate
The rate of condensation for middle surfaces (Surface 2)
is lower compared to right–left surface (Surfaces 1 and 3). It
happened on both outside and inside of heat absorption
glass. This is again due to surface temperature differences
between middle and left–right surface (Fig. 18).
4.3.5. Comparison of condensation between lower and
higher floor
Middle surfaces have been chosen to investigate the
distribution of condensation on different floors. From

Fig. 16. Condensation layouts and sections among four scenarios.

 W.N. Hien et al. / Energy and Buildings 37 (2005) 563–572
Fig. 17. Comparison of condensation rate among four scenarios on 6th story: west orientation, 2 January.
Fig. 18. Surface temperatures for each orientation.
Fig. 19. Surface temperature profile.
Fig. 20. Comparison of condensation rate.
571
Figs. 19 and 20, it can be seen that 2nd storey has the lowest
condensation rate. Whereas the surface temperature of 2nd
storey has been found about 1 8C lower compare to higher
floor 23 8C.
5. Conclusions
Double facade with purely stack effect is effective
enough to extract solar heat gain inside the facade cavity
and maintain lower internal surface temperature. Accel-
eration of air change rates by mechanical fan assist the
extraction process but the magnitude of energy saving is
negligible due to its installation and maintenance cost. The
external surface temperature of double glazed facade is
very high because of the characteristic of heat absorption
glass. But the mechanism of heat extraction in the double
glazed cavity is able to maintain lower internal surfaces
temperature, thus minimizing solar heat transfer to the
internal spaces.
Double glazed facade is a good approach to enhance
thermal comfort in a multistory office building. Whereas
thermal comfort is achieved for almost all floors and zones
except for the sixth floor during June. This is because of the
increasing temperature in the facade cavities due to higher
solar gain at higher stories. The uniformity of thermal
comfort level and less PPD variations in all orientations for
double glazed facade shows that the stack effect process in
east and west orientation is effective to exhaust the solar heat
gain in the facade cavity.
During high humidity night, temperature differences
between ambient and glass surface become the major
cause of condensation. By operating fans when condensa-
tion happens, it can prevent the moisture to build up and
condense. Therefore, operations of mechanical fans are
recommended to remove the condensation. The speed of
mechanical fans can be adjusted according to the rate of
condensation in different time to minimize the energy
used.
572 W.N. Hien et al. / Energy and Buildings 37 (2005) 563–572

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