Iranian (Iranica) Journal of Energy and Environment xx(x): xx-xx, 202x Please cite this article as: Authors name in Cambria 8 (with comma between them), 202x. Title must be Cambria 8, Iranian (Iranica) Journal of Energy and Environment, x(x), pp.xx-xx. doi address Iranian (Iranica) Journal of Energy & Environment Journal Homepage: www.ijee.net IJEE an official peer review journal of Babol Noshirvani University of Technology, ISSN:2079-2115 Saving energy through improving the performance of double skin facades: a case study of a residential building in Yazd F. Najjari Seresht 1 , A. Hakimi Oskui 2 , S. Salkhi* 3 , E. Imani 4 1 Department of Arts and Architecture, University of Bonab, Bonab (East Azarbaijan), Iran 2 Department of Arts and Architecture, University of Bonab, Bonab (East Azarbaijan), Iran 3 Department of Arts and Architecture, University of Bonab, Bonab (East Azarbaijan), Iran 4 Department of Architecture and Urbanism, Tabriz Islamic Art University,Tabriz (East Azarbaijan), Iran PAPER INFO Paper history: Received 15 5 August 2022 Accepted in revised form 30 November 2022 Keywords: Cooling load Double skin façades Hot and dry climate of Yazd Natural ventilation Thermal comfort ABSTRACT The building envelope is one of the most influential factors in energy consumption. Therefore, optimizing the facade of the building with new technologies is one of the most effective passive solutions to provide thermal comfort. The purpose of this research is to design a composite facade, which according to the two main driving forces; The pressure difference caused by the heat flow (air flow and wind force) and the insulation of the air, for a residential building with a typical plan of Yazd in the hot and dry climate of Iran, can be used to reduce the heating and cooling load of the building. For this purpose, firstly, the effect of two types of two-skin facades - floor-to-floor and all-over two-skin facades - compared to the model without two-skin facades in cooling and heating energy consumption throughout the year was modeled and analyzed with Design Builder version 6.1 software. The results of the constructions show the possibility of reducing about 60% of cooling energy through the creation of air conditioning and 26% of heating energy through the creation of thermal insulation in the residential building simulation model throughout the year by means of two combined shells. The findings of this research lead to the creation of more efficient energy solutions by creating innovation and combining new technologies according to climatic conditions. doi: 10.5829/ijee.2023.14.01.10 INTRODUCTION Today, energy conservation is a critical worldwide issue, leading architects to consider sustainable approaches in designing built environments[1]. In recent decades, architectural projects, due to an improper imitation of dominant movements, consume more energy for thermal comfort [2].The importance and necessity of this issue are the main motivation for architects to use new solutions in tune with sustainable approaches to reduce the consumption of traditional energy resources and increase the level of human comfort. On a global scale, dynamic and static architectures address the issue of energy compatibility[3]. While increasing energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption for heating and cooling, these solutions also try to provide an aesthetically pleasing appearance and support sustainable architecture. In recent years, indigenous research has followed these strategies in hot and dry climates and attempted to minimize the amount of energy consumption by using modern design strategies. Most traditional houses in Iran were designed based on climatic principles and demands. All of them were built to fulfill stakeholders' different requirements[4]. Nowadays, from the point of view of using conceptual ideas of traditional indigenous architecture, solutions such as windshields in a slender element form in high- rise buildings seem illogical. Still, its conceptual idea for the problem of natural ventilation leads the mind to what happens if the walls act like a super-windcatcher? Indeed exterior covering of building plays a fundamental role in controlling the condition of the internal environment [5]. In other word, building facades have a significant impact on the reduction of natural gas and electricity consumption because they are the boundary between the interior and exterior of the building [2].