Experimental data and boundary conditions for a Double-Skin Facade building in external air curtain mode

Frequent discussions of double skin façade energy performance have started a dialogue about the methods, models and tools for simulation of double façade systems and reliability of their results. Their reliability will increase with empirical validation of the software. Detailed experimental work was carried out in a full scale test facility ‘The Cube’, in order to compile three sets of high quality experimental data for validation purposes. The data sets are available for preheating mode, external air curtain mode and transparent insulation mode. The objective of this article is to provide the reader with all information about the experimental data and measurements, necessary to complete an independent empirical validation of any simulation tool. The article includes detailed information about the experimental apparatus, experimental principles and experimental full-scale test facility ‘The Cube’. This covers such problem areas as measurements of naturally induced air flow, measurements of air temperature under direct solar radiation exposure, etc. Finally, in order to create a solid foundation for software validation, the uncertainty and limitations in the experimental results are discussed. In part II of this paper the reader will be introduced to the experimental results, and their analysis