An experimental data set for analysis of the thermophysical behavior of a single-story mechanically ventilated double-skin façade (DSF) in fixed boundary conditions corresponding to winter/mid-season and summer cases

Double-skin facades (DSFs) are dynamic and flexible building envelopes that employ a ventilated cavity to either prevent or reduce the solar-induced cooling load or exploit solar energy for passive solar heating. The mechanical ventilation of the cavity offers higher flexibility and control than natural ventilation, as the latter largely depends on stochastic and unpredictable external conditions. Furthermore, when mechanical ventilation rates are combined with the operation of a shading device, the possibilities for controlling the accumulated heat in the cavity of the DSF increase further. Therefore, this experimental campaign systematically investigates how these two important features interact in controlling the cavity's thermal load and airflow conditions. The measurement collected during the experiments constitutes a dataset that contains the results of a series of experimental runs where the different configurations of DSF, in terms of mechanical ventilation rate and venetian blinds, have been subjected to two representative boundary conditions through a climate simulator facility equipped with a solar simulator device. The full-scale DSF mock-up, which includes venetian blinds installed in a 200 mm ventilated cavity, is operated in this experiment in two modes: outdoor air curtain (OAC) and supply air (SA) mode. Tests were carried out under a steady-state regime with different boundary conditions. For the analysis of the utilization of the excess heat accumulated in the cavity and prevention of DSF overheating, boundary conditions corresponding to g-value calculations were selected. For the analysis of air preheating in the DSF cavity, the boundary conditions corresponding to late winter/mid-season weather (cold outdoor air and low-to-moderate solar irradiance) were chosen. The entire set of experimental data collected during the tests is made publicly available to enable the scientific community to access experimental data to further analyze this problem or for model validation purposes. The data set supplements the open-access paper entitled "Control of heat transfer in single-story mechanically ventilated facades" (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112304), where additional information about the aims of the experiments, the detailed methods, and other data processing procedures can be found. The database is supported by a guide ("Guide.pdf"), where further explanations about how to read data and schematic drawings of the sensor layout are provided. The collection of experimental tests is divided into two files, according to two considered cases:

DSF operating in outdoor air curtain mode (24 steady-state measurements). The following factors were changed: mechanical ventilation rate (0, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 100 % of maximum fan power) and venetian blind configuration (closed θ=0 º, semi-open θ=45 º, and raised blinds). The outdoor and indoor temperatures, 30 ℃ and 25 ℃, and solar irradiance of 500 Wm-2 were replicated. [file name: "Summer.csv"],

DSF operating in supply air mode (27 steady-state measurements). The following factors were changed: mechanical ventilation rate (0, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 75, and 100 % of maximum fan power) and venetian blind configuration (closed θ=0 º, semi-open θ=45 º, and raised blinds). The outdoor and indoor temperatures, 10 ℃ and 25 ℃, and solar irradiance of 300 Wm-2 were replicated. [file name: " Winter_MidSeason.csv"]

Any inquiries about the experimental data can be sent to: [e-mail]

The activities presented in this paper were carried out within the research project "REsponsive, INtegrated, VENTilated - REINVENT – windows," supported by the Research Council of Norway through the research grant 262198, and the partners SINTEF, Hydro Extruded Solutions, Politecnico di Torino and Aalto University.