Integrating vertical greenery system into a sustainable double skin building façade in the hot climate of Abu Dhabi, UAE
Mahmoud HAGGAG, Narmeen HILAL, Abeer DAR SALEH, Ghaya ALSHAMSI, Shahd MOHAMED
Abstract. Full-glass façades are widely used in the hot-arid Gulf region for their aesthetic appeal and daylighting potential. Yet, they impose substantial cooling loads due to high solar heat gain and limited thermal buffering. Reducing these loads is critical because space cooling accounts for roughly 36 % of national electricity demand in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and can exceed 70 % of building electricity use during peak seasons. This study evaluates a hybrid façade that integrates a Vertical Greenery System (VGS) within a ventilated Double-Skin Façade (DSF) to enhance thermal performance and energy efficiency under Abu Dhabi’s extreme climate. Dynamic simulations were conducted in EnergyPlus using the Abu Dhabi IWEC weather file for three configurations: (i) a conventional single-skin façade, (ii) a non-planted DSF, and (iii) a DSF with vegetation. Building geometry, internal loads, and HVAC schedules were held constant to isolate façade-driven effects. Results indicate that the planted DSF reduced total site energy by 38.6 %, district-cooling demand by 45.1 %, and discomfort hours by 83.8 % compared with the baseline. Even the unplanted DSF achieved notable savings—approximately 33.8% of total energy and 39.5% of cooling reductions, yet vegetation provided an additional 5–6 percentage-point improvement in energy and cooling performance, as well as further comfort gains. The enhanced performance arises from the combined effects of solar shading, increased thermal resistance, and evapotranspiration cooling within the vegetated cavity. These findings demonstrate that VGS-integrated DSFs are a high-leverage, climate-appropriate passive design strategy for reducing cooling loads, improving indoor thermal comfort, and contributing to biodiversity and urban-heat-island mitigation. The research provides empirical evidence supporting the integration of vegetated double façades as a key pathway toward Sustainable Development Goal 11 on sustainable cities and communities.
Keywords
Double-Skin Façade, Vertical Greenery System, Energy Efficiency, Hot-Arid Climate
Published online 6/20/2026, 7 pages
Copyright © 2026 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Mahmoud HAGGAG, Narmeen HILAL, Abeer DAR SALEH, Ghaya ALSHAMSI, Shahd MOHAMED, Integrating vertical greenery system into a sustainable double skin building façade in the hot climate of Abu Dhabi, UAE, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 67, pp 817-823, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644904176-113
The article was published as article 113 of the book Climate Action and Sustainability
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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