Assessment of the Opaque Ventilated Facade as solar energy strategy in high-rise buildings

Opaque Ventilated Facades have a great potential for rehabilitation applications in regions with high solar radiation due to the reductions that the system implies in energy requirement for air conditioning. Research on envelope system adaptation and performance in Latin American cities is limited, leading to buildings constructed without facade insulation and low thermal quality. The methodological approach of this work is based on the survey of the residential building stock in the high-density central zone of the Metropolitan Area of Mendoza, Argentina, a city characterised by a semi-arid continental climate. Based on the in-situ hygro-thermal monitoring of a case study and the calibration of dynamic models with EnergyPlus, the work is carried out by simulating the indoor thermo-energetic behaviour in summer and winter, using an advanced building object. Four envelope materiality scenarios are analysed in order to evaluate the most significant impacts by orientation. The results show thermal reductions in the order of 0.7°C in summer and 2°C in winter, and maximum savings in the facades oriented towards the highest solar incidence: 54% for cooling and 34% for heating. The study confirms the efficacy of Opaque Ventilated Facades for energy rehabilitation in high-rise buildings in solar-intensive cities.