Adapting high-rise buildings to local climates: Studies for an optimum envelope scenario towards energy efficiency for a high-rise building in the Mediterranean climate

High-rise buildings around the world increase rapidly. Nevertheless, this fast pace is not corresponding with a know-how on the design of this building typology according to climate. In addition, the increased transparency of the building envelope from the mid-twentieth century onwards, resulted in high-energy loads, especially prominent in high-rise construction. With planning policies moving towards targets for low-carbon built environments, this challenging typology needs further research and experimentation. This study focuses on an office high-rise in the Mediterranean climate of Tel Aviv and the reduction of high cooling loads relevant to this climate. In this process, the envelope becomes the most important constituent between indoors and outdoors, by dictating the required use of energy for achieving thermal comfort. Simulations revealed that a ventilated double-skin façade (DSF) with the Low-E glazing as the exterior layer reduced cooling loads by 15% on average, from a typical DSF in temperate climates where the Low-E glazing is on the interior layer. However, cooling loads were also present during winter, when the DSF openings were closed, prompting for a more dynamic DSF design throughout the year. A further study is conducted, where the DSF openings alternate between open/closed DSF in relation to: building height, exterior environmental conditions, and interior thermal comfort, for optimum energy efficiency in high-rise buildings.