Numerical Investigation of the Influence of Vegetation on the Aero-Thermal Performance of Buildings with Courtyards in Hot Climates

Hao Sun, Carlos Jimenez-Bescos, Murtaza Mohammadi, Fangliang Zhong and John Kaiser Calautit
Additional contact information
Hao Sun: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
Carlos Jimenez-Bescos: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
Murtaza Mohammadi: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
Fangliang Zhong: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
John Kaiser Calautit: Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 17, 1-25

Abstract: Natural ventilation is an energy-efficient way to provide fresh air and enhance indoor comfort levels. The wind-driven natural ventilation in courtyards has been investigated by many researchers, particularly the influence of the spatial configuration and environmental parameters on the ventilation and thermal comfort performance. However, previous research has mainly focused on the courtyard region instead of the indoor spaces surrounding it. Additionally, as a microclimate regulator, courtyards are rarely assessed in terms of the impact of vegetation, including its impact on energy consumption and thermal comfort. Evapotranspiration from vegetation can help lower air temperature in the surrounding environment and, therefore, its influence on the ventilation and thermal comfort in buildings with courtyards should be evaluated. The present study investigates the impact of vegetation on the aero-thermal comfort conditions in a courtyard and surrounding buildings in hot climates. Computational fluid dynamics was employed to evaluate the aero-thermal comfort conditions of the courtyard and surrounding buildings with different configurations of vegetation. The modeling was validated using previous works’ experimental data, and good agreement was observed. Thermal comfort indices were used to assess thermal performance. The study also evaluated the cover, height and planting area of vegetation in the courtyard. The results of this study can help develop tools that can assist the addition of vegetation in courtyards to maximize their effects. Future works will focus on looking at the influence of the strategies on different designs and layouts of courtyards.

Keywords: courtyard; vegetation; CFD Fluent; thermal performance; nature ventilation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/17/5388/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/17/5388/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:17:p:5388-:d:625249

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().