Assessment of Natural Ventilation Techniques by Means of Measurements and Retrospective CFD Simulation on a Test Building
Publication: Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 30, Issue 2
Abstract
The study described here analyzed natural ventilation techniques, operated in a real building in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to assist passive cooling. The assessment has been conducted by comparing digital simulation results and field measurements. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to retrospectively understand and quantify the monitored contribution of natural ventilation toward cooling the building. After calibrating the model with the field monitored data, the CFD simulations showed that the predicted ventilation strategies (buoyancy and stack effect to remove indoor heat; “wind catcher” effect to provide indoor passive cooling) contribute to lower the indoor temperature by an average of 0.7°C throughout the day. The outcomes of the study contributes to assist early stage design, with special regard to passive cooling via natural ventilation, to achieve more sustainable buildings. Nevertheless, while it is quite reliable to plan for main air flow and direction, in a real building alternative behavior might occur that is difficult to control and might affect the ventilation purpose and efficiency.
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Data Availability Statement
All data supporting the findings of the study are included in the published paper.
Acknowledgments
The test building described in this paper, and used for the study, is the KNOW HOWse, designed, built, and operated by a team composed of the faculty and students of the University of Sharjah, UAE (leader partner) and the Architettura > Energia Research Centre of the University of Ferrara, Italy (project partner), to participate in the academic competition Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 in Dubai (SDME 2018). The construction of the test building was made possible thanks to the following sponsors and supporters. Main sponsor: Sharjah Investment and Development Authority, Shurooq. Other partners, sponsors, and suppliers: Alba Tower Construction; DUBCO Construction; Sheikh Zayed Housing Programme; Xlam Dolomiti; Pandre Special Integration; OffGrid Group of Companies; Schueco Middle East; ALICO Aluminium and Light Industries; Gulf Glass Industries; OHM Star Electromechanic; Bee’ah Sharjah Environment Company; Alufoot; Master Events; Watergy International Group; Buzzi & Buzzi; Aquamag, Magnesia Panel Building Material Trading; Al Weqaya Fire Fighting; Soltech; Rothoblaas; Crestron; Hydraloop international; The Mail Room Restaurant and Cafe; Risala Furniture; Italian Industry and Commerce Office in the UAE; Sharjah Architectural Student Association.
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Published In
Journal of Architectural Engineering
Volume 30 • Issue 2 • June 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 30, 2023
Accepted: Dec 26, 2023
Published online: Mar 20, 2024
Published in print: Jun 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Aug 20, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Air flow
- Architectural engineering
- Building design
- Building systems
- Buildings
- Calibration
- Computational fluid dynamics technique
- Design (by type)
- Engineering fundamentals
- Flow (fluid dynamics)
- Fluid dynamics
- Fluid mechanics
- Green buildings
- HVAC
- Hydrologic engineering
- Measurement (by type)
- Structural engineering
- Structures (by type)
- Water and water resources
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