Double Skin Façades for the Sustainable Refurbishment of Non-Domestic Buildings: A Life Cycle Environmental Impact Perspective

In developed countries, existing buildings have the biggest share in the building stock. Giventhe age of construction, the property vs. land values, and their slow replacement rate, lowcarbonrefurbishments are arguably one of the most sensible ways to mitigate environmentalimpacts (EIs) in the construction sector and meet the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets.In this respect, Double Skin Façade (DSF) has been defined as one of the most effective ways toefficiently manage interactions between outdoors and indoors, and its benefits span frompassive heating and cooling to the enhancement of thermal comfort of the occupied spaces. Aplethora of research does exist on the operational behaviour of the DSF. However, life cycleenergy figures and EIs are yet to be established fully and comprehensively. This paper reportson findings of an on-going research project aimed at filling such a gap. More specifically, lifecycle assessment (LCA) and building energy modelling (BEM) have been combined to build amethodology to help assess life cycle energy figures in a more holistic manner. Primary datahas been collected from manufacturers from across Europe about all the life cycle stages andprocesses related to a DSF refurbishment. Results show that if on the one hand the life cycleenergy balance actually is negative, hence supporting a wider adoption of DSFs inrefurbishments, on the other hand there exists ecological and EIs that the DSF bears; thatcannot be easily overlooked if a more responsive approach to the EIs is to be undertaken. Notonly do these findings inform a more energy-efficient deployment of DSFs, but they alsohighlight the need for a more holistic and impact-driven design approach to ensure that theenvironmental burdens are not just shifted from one impact category to another.