Analysis of the Wind Environment to Improve the Thermal Comfort in the Colonnade Space of a Qilou Street Based on the Relative Warmth Index

Xianfeng Huang, Zhen Lu and Zhixiang Zhuang
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Xianfeng Huang: College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Zhen Lu: College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
Zhixiang Zhuang: College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 16, 1-19

Abstract: By analyzing measurements of the thermal environment of a qilou (arcade building) street, this study used the relative warmth index (RWI) to evaluate the thermal comfort in the colonnade space of a qilou. The analysis of the influence of the temperature, humidity, and wind speed on the thermal comfort in the colonnade space of a qilou street was conducted, and it was shown that the ambient wind speed had a strong influence on the RWI, indicating that a proper increase in the wind speed positively affected thermal comfort in this space. Then, this study also analyzed the effects of different forms of qilou streets on the wind environment by employing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and summarized the architectural design measures that can improve the thermal comfort, including adopting back chamfer, street gaps, and the appropriate sizing of building components. It was concluded that the wind environment of a qilou could be optimized in terms of these measures, and the average RWI value decreased by 0.06, effectively enhancing the thermal comfort in the colonnade space. The research findings are applicable toward designing a thermally comfortable environment in the transitional space.

Keywords: qilou; colonnade space; thermal comfort; relative warmth index; urban and architectural design measures (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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