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Coupling TRNSYS 17 and CONTAM: simulation of a naturally ventilated

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DOI: 10.1080/17512549.2015.1050694

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Coupling TRNSYS 17 and CONTAM: simulation of a

naturally ventilated double-skin façade

Ines Khalifa, Leila Gharbi Ernez, Essia Znouda & Chiheb Bouden

To cite this article: Ines Khalifa, Leila Gharbi Ernez, Essia Znouda & Chiheb Bouden (2015)
Coupling TRNSYS 17 and CONTAM: simulation of a naturally ventilated double-skin façade,
Advances in Building Energy Research, 9:2, 293-304, DOI: 10.1080/17512549.2015.1050694

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 Advances in Building Energy Research, 2015
Vol. 9, No. 2, 293–304, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17512549.2015.1050694

Coupling TRNSYS 17 and CONTAM: simulation of a naturally ventilated

double-skin façade
Ines Khalifaa,b* , Leila Gharbi Erneza, Essia Znoudaa and Chiheb Boudena
Downloaded by [Rue Bechir Salem Belkhiria Camp uni], [Ines Khalifa] at 08:55 06 May 2016

a
Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Tunis, Lab. Matériaux, Optimisation et Energie pour la Durabilité (MOED
Lab.), Université de Tunis el Manar, B.P. 37, 1002 Tunis-Belvédère, Tunisia; bEcole Nationale d’Ingénieurs
de Bizerte, Université de Carthage, B.P. 77, 1054 Amilcar, Tunisia
(Received 14 July 2014; accepted 8 April 2015)

Aiming at developing a decision aid tool for double-skin façades (DSF) design in the
Mediterranean climate, this study has coupled CONTAM with TRNSYS to evaluate the
thermal/ventilation performance of the façade under dynamic climatic conditions. Similar
coupling thermal building simulations to nodal airflow network simulations have been
performed in DSF modelling; but in all cases, it was used to get an overall evaluation of the
DSF behaviour, whereas, in this paper, temporal distribution of temperatures into the cavity
is presented, relating more accurately the transient heat and mass transfer in the DSF.
Reproducing a configuration of single storey naturally ventilated DSF reveals a good
agreement between simulation results and measured data from full-scale experimentation in
both winter and summer time. The 3D radiation model implemented in the last version of
TRNSYS, provided with the detailed solar characteristics of glazing in the different layers
of the DSF, well estimates the heat transfer into the cavity in interaction with the adjacent
zones. Natural ventilation is obtained, using CONTAM, by means of internal airflow paths
running through the DSF height.
Keywords: double-skin façade; thermal and airflow simulation; TRNSYS; CONTAM

1. Introduction
The double-skin façade (DSF) is a rather recent architectural solution. In the early 1980s, the basic
rules of passive use of solar radiation led to the emergence of all-glazed buildings under the
concept of solar architecture. To reconcile thermal comfort and energy efficiency, a thermal
buffer zone supplemented the glazed façades, which reduces heat losses, enables passive
thermal gain from solar radiation and allows an air circulation coupled with shading to avoid
summer overheating.
By creating an air gap within a double-skin façade, various operation strategies of the
cavity are offered with the possible ventilation schemes (interior/exterior air curtain, air
exhaust/supply … ). The air flow through the glazing cavity is driven by either natural stack
and wind pressures (aided sometimes by the use of fans) or mechanical supply and exhaust
systems. Naturally ventilated façades are either applied as supply windows in naturally venti-
lated offices, or as air curtain envelopes in fully conditioned offices. Investigating the natural
ventilated designs is particularly interesting since it allows to take advantage from the

*Corresponding author. Email: ines.khalifa.b@gmail.com

This article was originally published with errors. This version has been corrected. Please see Corrigendum
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17512549.2015.1066091).

© 2015 Taylor & Francis

 294 I. Khalifa et al.

thermal stack effect and to achieve energy efficiency goals in a less expensive way than with
mechanical designs. Besides, the driving forces involved in the case of natural ventilation
mode evoke more complex physical phenomena, and then, requires greater efforts to model
these relevant aspects. Modelling these particular façades serve two purposes: the first one is
mainly descriptive, where complex physical phenomena into the air cavity are rigorously
studied carrying a fine-mesh spatial discretization; and the second one is behavioural, related
to the evaluation of the thermal/ventilation performance of the façade under dynamic climatic
conditions.
Detailed studies have been conducted using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models
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for naturally ventilated façades (Manz, 2004; Pasut, 2012; Xu & Yang, 2008). They are
mainly dealing with the visualization of the velocity and temperature profiles in cavities
with venetian blinds. In all cases, the CFD models treat a particular configuration, for simpli-
fied boundary conditions (a limited set of input solar radiation values, outdoor air temperatures,
wind velocities, etc.), during a short real scale period. Thus, using the CFD modelling approach
does not make it possible to draw generic conclusions and give an overview on the large range
of different DSF geometries, with various operating strategies, under dynamic weather
conditions.
Some other researchers developed lumped models to evaluate the energy performance of
DSF. The numerical network models were used to analyse the airflow and temperature
fields within the cavity in naturally ventilated DSF equipped with shading devices (Faggem-
bauu, 2006; Kuznik, Catalina, Gauzere, Woloszyn, & Roux, 2011; Saelens, 2000; Safer, 2006).
Lumped models, in addition to time and computing efforts gain while predicting the thermal/
ventilation performance of the DSF, have the advantage of a possible year-round estimation,
under realistic conditions, of the thermal comfort and energy-saving potential of the DSF-
equipped building.
Currently, beyond lumped numerical models developed specially for studying the DSF,
several whole-building simulation tools (e.g. ESP-r, EnergyPlus, TRNSYS, TAS, IES VE, IDA
ICE, VA114, BSim, etc.) are also used to assess the energy performance of these façade
systems. The existing simulation programs, initially developed to predict standard building
thermal behaviour, have evolved to be adapted to recent sustainable architecture features.
These tools, not inducting thermal stratification modelling in basic versions, have developed
more detailed models for heat transfer treatment and provided the ability of coupling with venti-
lation modules to reproduce physical phenomena occurring in DSF.
As part of the International Energy Agency program, the task of validation of energy simu-
lation building tools has stressed on their potentialities in modelling DSF (IEA ECBCS, 2009).
Using TRNSYS among three other simulation tools, different variants of ventilated DSF were
simulated and the results compared with experimental test cell measurements. The final report
concluded that the air cavity temperatures computed by TRNSYS differ significantly from the
measures, especially when the façade is ventilated with exterior air. Deviations from the exper-
imental data are more important at solar radiation peaks.
These results can be explained by the limitations of the radiative model implemented in
TRNSYS-TUD (a modified version of the 14.2 version of TRNSYS created by the University
of Dresden). The direct and diffuse solar radiation distributed by absorptance weighted area
ratios method does not allow describing the complex radiative heat transfer into the cavity.
The validation of a single storey naturally ventilated DSF simulation model in this paper,
using the detailed radiation modelling of the last version of TRNSYS (TRNSYS 17, 2010), sup-
ports this assumption. TRNSYS is coupled with CONTAM (Walton & Dols, 2005) in order to
evaluate the thermal/ventilation performance of the façade under dynamic climatic conditions.
Similar coupling thermal building simulations to nodal airflow network simulations has been
 Advances in Building Energy Research 295

performed in DSF modelling (Ballestini, De Carli, Masiero, & Tombola, 2005; Gondre, Savoyat,
Johannes, & Virgone, 2012; Haase & Amato, 2006); but in all cases, it was used to get an overall
evaluation of the effects of DSF on the energy consumption of office buildings, whereas, in this
paper, temporal distribution of temperatures into the cavity is presented, relating more accurately
the transient heat and mass transfer in the DSF.
The research studies focusing on the energy performance of DSF have drawn different results
and conclusions. The main reason for this disparity is the different base for comparison and aim of
the research. In fact, the DSF concept covers a wide range of different enclosure types; some are
more suitable than others, depending on the building type, orientation, location and design
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parameters. The influence of some of these parameters on DSF performance has been studied
separately (Chan, Chow, Fong, & Lin, 2009; Ding, Hasemi, & Yamad, 2005; Kuznik et al.,
2011). No interaction effects of the influent parameters are taken into account, and then no syn-
thetic information can be pulled out about all factors interfering in the DSF behaviour. This work
represents a preliminary stage in the development of a decision aid tool for DSF design in the
Mediterranean climate.

2. Simulation tools
2.1. Thermal and airflow simulation models
TRNSYS (version 17.00.0019) is a transient simulation code developed by Solar Energy Labora-
tory of the University Wisconsin-Madison (TRNSYS 17, 2010). The multizone building model of
TRNSYS has been deeply revised by the last version and a detailed modelling of 3D radiation
transfer into the cavity is thereby possible. In the last version of TRNSYS, for a detailed model-
ling of 3D heat transfer by radiation and thermal stratification, the concept of ‘radiative zone’ is
introduced, based on the multiple-airnode approach: each node represents a volume of air per-
fectly mixed, characterized by one temperature.
The treatment of long-wave radiation exchange with the outside (sky, ground, external
obstructions and shading devices), as well as long-wave radiation resulting from multiple
reflection on interior surfaces within the cavity, applies the Gebhart method (Gebhart, 1961).
The view factors are the key tool of this method; they are written in a purely geometrical
matrix by the auxiliary program TRNVFM. This preprocessing data is used, in addition to
optical properties of the surfaces (emissivity and reflectivity), to calculate Gebhart factors
within an enclosure.
Solar radiation modelling, likewise, has been enhanced by the last version of TRNSYS. A
detailed model of beam and diffuse solar radiation is available within the DSF cavity. Stan-
dard treatment of solar radiation, beam and diffuse separately (unlike in previous versions), is
applied when passing the second layer of fenestration (the inner skin of the DSF). If using
the detailed calculation model of beam radiation, the solar sunlit and distribution factors are
computed by another auxiliary program, TRNSHD, and written to external files (SHD:
SHading Matrix file for sunlit factors, defined as the sunlit glazing area and ISM: InSolation
Matrix file for distribution factors, which are the sunlit fractions of external glazing
that strikes each inside surface in a zone). In the same way, diffuse radiation shading is
solved by defining diffuse sunlit fractions of external glazing, which are also written to
the ISM file.
To perform combined heat transfer and airflow simulations, TRNSYS is coupled with
CONTAM (version 3.1.0.3), a computer program for indoor air quality and ventilation analysis.
The airflow pattern within the cavity is evaluated using a multizone approach which models the
air gap. CONTAM allows modelling the flow between air nodes forming a network within
 296 I. Khalifa et al.

the cavity, to compute the airflow rates across the flow elements (airflow paths) connected in the
network. The airflow rates are computed using a power law model of the flow elements: a relation-
ship between the flow through each element and the pressure in the nodes it connects. The volu-
metric flow across the airflow element Q is expressed as

Q = C (DP)n ,

where ΔP is the pressure drop between the zones it connects, C and n are, respectively, the flow
coefficient and the flow exponent.
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The driving forces for airflow in the cavity are the pressure difference due to stack effect and
the pressure difference due to wind. The airflow network being designed in CONTAM, the par-
ameters of the airflow model are correctly set to account for these effects and reproduce closely
the airflow model in Saelens (2000).

2.2. Coupling process

The simulation was performed using the new features of the multizone building model of
TRNSYS supported by adjunct programs (Figure 1). The multizone building model
(TYPE 56) is based on heat balance calculations at each time step, leading to temperature/
heat amounts evaluation. A specific module of TRNSYS, TYPE 98, was developed to
ensure communication and exchange of data between TYPE 56 and CONTAM. TYPE 98
acts as a server to CONTAMX, which is the numerical solver of the program, by enabling
execution control and data transfer via TCP/IP sockets. The graphical user interface, referred
as CONTAMW, is used to create and view the representation of the airflow network
components.

Figure 1. Simulation tools – adjunct programs in interaction with TRNSYS.

 Advances in Building Energy Research 297

The plug-in called TRNSYS 3D for Google SketchUp developed to easily input the 3D geo-
metric data, is used for the definition of virtual surfaces. The building input description manager
TRNBuild is used for the edition of the BUI file. For the new detailed radiation calculations,
TRNBuild appeals, in a preprocessing step, auxiliary programs dealing with the resulting geo-
metric information to generate required inputs such as view factors, shading factors and distri-
bution factors. The specification of solar properties of the glazed façades is performed using a
program called LBNL Window, used to generate the glazing description data to be added to
the standard TRNSYS windows library.
The combined TRNSYS/CONTAM simulation operates an interchanging sequence of the air
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temperatures in one direction, and the airflow rates in the other (Figure 1). Two main coupling
methods exist to combine the nodal network flow method with the thermal model (Hensen,
1995). In this work, we use the ‘ping-pong’ method of coupling, which is the available
method in the current implementation of TYPE 98. Based on this approach, the thermal and
flow models run in sequence (i.e. each one uses the results of the other model in the previous
time step), as opposed to the so-called onion method, in which the thermal and flow models
iterate within one time step until convergence is achieved. The comparison of the two methods
by Hensen (1995) revealed that the differences in air flow rates are larger than the differences
in air temperatures, in the case of an atrium using passive cooling by natural ventilation.
Table 1 presents the coupling process and summarizes the input data and the main resulting
files forming the project folder. The large time of effort that is associated with the creation of a
combined thermal–airflow simulation model is seen as a major problem for the implementation
of a simulation-based decision aid tool for DSF design. To simulate various DSF configurations,
some input parameters can be adjusted on a basis of an initial model data. In some cases, major
modifications are required (e.g. we need to modify the TMF file when adding/deleting airflow
paths to implement another ventilation scheme of the DSF), while in some other cases, merely
parameter value assignment is expected (e.g. the flow properties or the façade orientation
editing). An entire strategy for defining the simulation plan to be displayed for the decision aid
tool requirements will be the subject of a future work.

3. Case study description

3.1. Overview of the DSF configuration
The configuration of the naturally ventilated DSF analysed is similar to the one studied by Saelens
(2000), whose data were used to validate the model (Figure 2). It is a 2.90 m high cavity with
0.35 × 1.1 m openings at the top and the bottom of the exterior skin to allow outdoor air to
flow through the cavity (exterior air curtain). The cavity depth of 0.30 m is one of the most
used values in usual one-storey DSF configurations. The experiment carried by Saelens (2000)
was at the Vliet test building of the Laboratory of Building Physics of Leuven in Belgium,
with the DSF facing south-west.
The construction details and materials are summarized in Table 2. Besides the façade geome-
try and material properties, the input parameters to pick out from Saelens (2000), which are
required for the simulation, are the climatic conditions: the exterior air temperature, the total hori-
zontal solar radiation (that we deduce from the total radiation incident on the façade surface, as
shown in Section 4.1), the wind speed and the wind direction. Meteorological data were gathered
by an automatic weather station, measured every 3 min and averaged on a 15 min basis. The
measurement campaign includes two periods, in winter and summer of 2000. The cavity air temp-
erature was monitored on either side of the shading device, at three different heights. The interior
air temperature is set to 20°C for both periods during experiments.
 298
Table 1. TRNSYS/CONTAM coupling process.
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Stage Used program Sequence of steps Input data Main resulting files
Preliminary phase – input CONTAM Establish airnodes network and define Airflow paths properties .PRJ (Project File)

I. Khalifa et al.
data from adjunct airflow patterns (Façade idealization) Flow characteristics .AIR (Airflow Information File)
programs Set the parameters of the airflow model Simulation numerical parameters
Select the nonlinear/linear equation solver
TRNSYS 3D plug-in Generate the input data file for TRNSYS Building zones with no airflow .IDF (Input Data File)
on Google Draw the glazed area communication with the façade
SketchUp Define the virtual surfaces (to be Glazing panes coordinates
eliminated in TRNSYS Building model)
LBNL Windows Generate the glazing description data to be Inner and outer glazed skin W4-LIB.DAT
added to the standard TRNSYS library materials and properties
TPF creation TRNSYS Simulation Create the new TRNSYS 3D-Buiding- TPF (TRNSYS Project File)
Studio Project from the IDF file
Add the TRNSYS TYPES forming the
simulation model
Create the TMF File (the project-
specific TYPE 98 pro forma)
Thermal model setting TRNBuild Form one multiple-airnode zone joining Glazing and wall layers .B17 (Building File)
the nodes within the façade composition
Enable the 3D geometry mode option Convective heat transfer
Generate the Shading/Insolation/View coefficients
Factor Matrix (.SHD/.ISM/.VFM files) Internal gains
Define the boundary conditions (adiabatic
surfaces)
Define the occupancy scenario and the set
point temperature inside the room
Combined model setting TRNSYS simulation Set the radiation processing model and use Building location .OUT (Air Temperature at each
studio the data reader to get the proper climatic Building orientation airnode/airflow rate through each
data Meteorological data flow paths)
Connect TYPE 98 and TYPE56 Parameters of the short-wave
Set the simulation parameters radiation model
Define the desired outputs Simulation time step/start-time/
stop-time
 Advances in Building Energy Research 299
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Figure 2. DSF at the Vliet test building – Cross section (Saelens, 2000).

Table 2. DSF components description.

Component Material and properties
Exterior glazing Single pane (8 mm) clear float glass, central U-factor = 5.67 W/m2K
Exterior frame Aluminium frame without thermal break, U-factor = 5.88 W/m2K
Shading device Roller blind with automated control, the shading device is lowered if the solar radiation
exceeds 150 W/m2
Interior frame Operable aluminium frame with thermal break, U-factor = 2.88 W/m2K
Interior glazing Double pane (4–15 – 4 mm), clear float glass, argon filled, low-E coating (ε = 0.09),
central glass U-factor = 1.23 W/m2K, g-value = 0.64
Upper/lower Two parallel ventilation grids at the outside, length = 1.1 m, airflow rate = 111 m3/h
grids at 2 Pa

Figure 3. DSF discretization.

 300 I. Khalifa et al.

3.2. DSF discretization

The cavity is modelled as six airnodes (1–6), with two smaller volumes located at the bottom and at the
top, corresponding to the inlet and outlet openings, and four bigger ones located in between (Figure 3).
The choice made in thermal zoning of the air gap is governed by the airflow paths modelling stack
effects into the cavity: distance between nodes cannot be further reduced so no levels can be added.
The roller blind shading device hung in the middle of the cavity is modelled using a shading
factor. The automated shading control strategy in the test cell, making the shading device lowered
if the solar radiation exceeds 150 W/m², is performed by means of radiation-dependant input
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values of the shading factor monitored via a differential controller in TRNSYS.

4. Results and discussion

In this study, the measured data provided by Saelens (2000) for 10 January 2000 and 11 August
2000 are used to validate the simulation model coupling TRNSYS and CONTAM. The flow par-
ameters (flow exponent and flow coefficient) are set differently between winter and summer simu-
lations according to the number of open ventilation grids during measurements.

4.1. Solar radiation

The incident solar radiation on the DSF has a large influence on its thermal behaviour. Therefore,
a specific concern is given to the computation of solar radiation components on horizontal and
vertical surfaces. The available data in Saelens’s work is restricted to solar radiation on the
south-west façade. The horizontal radiation components (total and diffuse radiation on a horizon-
tal plan) are obtained by solving the system of two equations describing the short-wave radiation
calculation model:

(1) The relationship between the diffuse and the total radiation striking a horizontal surface,
based on the Reindl Correlation (TRNSYS 17, 2000).
(2) The sum of diffuse and direct radiation on the south-west façade (total radiation measured
data) expressed by means of diffuse and total horizontal radiation components.

The solar geometry formulas are needed to feed the system coefficients. The obtained values
of total horizontal radiation are transcribed to an external data file, with 30 min time intervals, and
provided as input to the radiation processor module of TRNSYS (TYPE 16). The total radiation
resulting from a 30 min time step computation on the south-west façade is compared to the
measurement data to validate the system resolving procedure and ensure correct data values on
the meteorological input file (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Solar radiation resulting from a 30 min time step simulation on the south-west compared to
measurement data on 10th January and on 11th August.
 Advances in Building Energy Research 301

4.2. Temperature distribution

Figures 5 and 6 show the simulation results compared to experimental data on 10th January and
11th August, respectively, carried out by Saelens (2000) at the Vliet Building. The average air
cavity temperature, corresponding to the mean lengthwise temperatures in airnodes 2–3–4–5
(Figure 3), resulting from 30 min time step simulations, is compared to the equivalent measured
cavity temperature, defined by Saelens (2000) as the average temperature over the six cavity ther-
mocouples monitored on either side of the shading device (Figure 2).
The line of the best fit is estimated on both days (Figure 7). The regression coefficient between
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the two sets of data for linear relationship is 0.9785 on 10th January and 0.9782 on 11th August.
The errors (the difference between measured and simulated temperatures at time i: measi–simi)
in each of the 30 min comparison period reveal a maximum value of 3°C on the 10th of January
simulation and 3°C on the 11th of August, with an absolute value average error that does not
exceed 0.5°C. Table 3 presents the results of a survey of average and maximum errors in
thermal simulation validation studies of naturally ventilated DSF. Compared to recent similar
studies in the literature, the present work generates the lower average and typical maximum errors.
A percentage error is calculated by normalizing the difference between measurement data and
simulated temperatures using the total variation in temperature within the day. This notion of nor-
malization introduced in Mateus et al. (2014) reflects the fact that ‘larger variations in the simu-
lated data are expected to lead to higher deviations in simulated temperature’.

Error( C) W


Error(%) = 100% ×


.


Meas − Meas
max min

Figure 5. Simulation results compared to measurement data monitored on 10th January.

Figure 6. Simulation results compared to measurement data monitored on 11th August.

 302 I. Khalifa et al.
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Figure 7. Linear regression of measured data on simulated cavity temperature.

Table 3. Error estimation in comparison with literature.

Reference Average error Maximum error Simulation tool
Kim, Kim, Shin, and Sohn (2009) 1.7 3.7 TRNSYS
Kalyanova et al. (2009) 0.8 5 TRNSYS – ESP-r
Chan et al. (2009) – 5 EnergyPlus
Mateus, Pinto, and Carrilho da Graça (2014) 1.4 3.6 EnergyPlus
This work 0.5 3 TRNSYS – CONTAM

The results presented in this work denote notably smaller errors than those obtained by
Mateus et al. (2014). In the latter work, the average percentage error for the run period
has high values, ranging between 6% and 8% depending on the blind position, against an
average percentage error that does not exceed 3% in our case (in both summer and winter day
simulations).
Similar trends in both the days are observed: simulation predicts a faster rising in the cavity
temperature in the morning with the sharp solar radiation increase on the DSF surface and a faster
decay in the temperature in the evening when solar radiation decreases promptly.
Performing simulations with single-minute time steps reveals high fluctuations in cavity
temperature results, going along with intermittent reversing airflow.

4.3. Airflow simulation

Since no measurements of airflow rates are available on both days, an overview of the main quan-
tities during winter and summer measurements presented in Saelens (2000) has served as a basis
for comparison. Table 4 outlines average values of output simulation airflow rates. The average
simulation resulting airflow rates are in a good agreement with measurements.

Table 4. Average airflow rates.

Winter (2 opened grids) Summer (1 opened grid)
Measurement Simulation 10th January Measurement Simulation 11th August
Average airflow 59.8 62.9 19.2 22.1
rate (m3/h)
 Advances in Building Energy Research 303

Under low wind speed conditions for both days, the airflow in the naturally ventilated cavity is
mainly driven by the pressure difference due to the stack effect, which causes prevailing upward
flows as the cavity is ventilated with colder exterior air. This statement is verified by simulation
results. Larger downward flows are expected with increasing wind speed.

5. Conclusions and perspectives

Coupling TRNSYS 17 and CONTAM is used to model the temperature evolution and the airflow
rates into a naturally ventilated DSF, relating stratification effects through the air gap, in opposi-
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tion to the common use in assessing overall impact of this particular kind of façade on energy
performance of building. The present work is an application of TRNSYS 17 multizone building
model improvements concerning radiation modelling in one of the specific concerns for which
they were implemented.
An analysis of the temporal distribution of temperature results reveals a good agreement
between simulation and measurement data. The maximum error estimated over the simulated
days is 3°C and the absolute value average error does not exceed 0.5°C. A good agreement is
also achieved in comparison to recent data in the literature. The average percentage error of
3%, which is calculated by normalizing the difference between measurement and simulated temp-
erature, is notably lower than the value obtained in an equivalent study.
The differences occurring can be contributed to the combined effects of error propagation due
to simplification in geometry (a single-channel cavity) and lack of accuracy in some boundary
conditions (no precise data on relative humidity and wind speed and direction). The single-
channel cavity can be retained when the shading device used is a roller blind, which is easily mod-
elled by the shading factor defined in TYPE 56, but may not be so appropriate in the case of vene-
tian blinds where the complexity expected in airflow and shading modelling imposes further
requirements. Subdividing the cavity into vertical layers may be necessary and can be associated
with the use of specific software to detailed shading modelling.
The validation of the coupled thermal–airflow model is the first step in a process of
decision aid tool development for DSF design in the Mediterranean climate. The 30 min simu-
lation time step will be an advantageous feature that will provide decision-makers, dealing
with DSFs, with the possibility to test multiple design configurations, in the first stage of
the design project, in reasonable computation time. Only minor modifications of the original
model will be required to evaluate the year-round energy-saving potential of different DSF
configurations.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID
Ines Khalifa http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8900-3563

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