Glass facades are very popular today. They look restrained, expressive, there is nothing superfluous in their design, and they perfectly fit into the modern architecture of cities. The article discusses the concept of an innovative facade system - a double-skin facade. This design is common in Central and Eastern Europe. During operation, it has proven to be energy-efficient. The analytical study presents the classification of such facades by the method of ventilation and by the geometry of the inter-contour space, and identifies the main advantages. It was found that the best type is the box window type of the inter-contour space. Examples of using a double-skin facade system in Russia are considered in the second part of the work. Unfortunately, there are not many buildings of this type, this is due to the high cost, as well as the lack of sufficient and experimental base. This system has some comments on its use in cold climate, so it needs to be considered in more detail and improved. We need a comprehensive approach. It is important to carefully model different modifications of this design, as well as conduct full-scale tests, and expand the scientific base.