Articles techniques et présentations

Energy performances and building energy quality can be achieved by high performance envelopes. In this paper the thermal performance of a naturally ventilated façade, applied to a traditional wall, widely used in existing buildings, was investigated by a transient simulation. A three dimensional model of the façade was investigated in Florence and Treviso (Italy). The simulation shows the ability of modeling natural ventilation flows, driven by thermal buoyancy and stack effects in the system where the flow is constrained within a vertical channel. Comparison obtained by simulating the system in two different climatic zones showed that thermal performance of the ventilated façade cannot be generalized and is particularly effective in reducing cooling loads, especially at average low latitudes, where the amount of total solar radiation striking the building walls is very important.