Possibilities and limitations of natural ventilation in restored industrial archaeology buildings with a double-skin facade in Mediterranean climates

There is an open discussion concerning how to improve energy performance of old dismissed industrial archaeology buildings and which could be the best choices for their sustainable re-use. In this work, a case study is analysed for investigating the possibility of application of passive solar systems in a Mediterranean climate on a dismissed silk factory, with particular reference to double-skin facade and natural ventilation, by means of dynamic simulations performed by coupling TRNSYS and LOOPDA simulation models. Natural ventilation in historical industrial buildings has been used in the past, by means of technical openings between floors and chimneys at the top. In this study the old airflow patterns are maintained and, due to the sunspace in winter and the night-cooling in summer, 12% of the energy might be saved in 1 year. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.