A Review of Numerical Simulation as a Precedence Method for Prediction and Evaluation of Building Ventilation Performance

Ardalan Aflaki, Masoud Esfandiari and Saleh Mohammadi
Additional contact information
Ardalan Aflaki: School of Architecture and Art, University of Guilan, Rasht 41996-13776, Iran
Masoud Esfandiari: Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran 19839-69411, Iran
Saleh Mohammadi: Department of Architectural Engineering & Technology, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, 2628 BL Delft, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 22, 1-18

Abstract: Natural ventilation has been used widely in buildings to deliver a healthy and comfortable indoor environment for occupants. It also reduces the consumption of energy in the built environment and dilutes the concentration of carbon dioxide. Various methods and techniques have been used to evaluate and predict indoor airspeed and patterns in buildings. However, few studies have been implemented to investigate the relevant methods and tools for the evaluation of ventilation performance in indoor and outdoor spaces. The current study aims to review available methods, identifying reliable ones to apply in future research. This study investigates scientific databases and compares the advantages and drawbacks of methods including analytical models, empirical models, zonal models, and CFD models. The findings indicated the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model is the most relevant method because of cost-effectiveness, informative technique, and proficiency to predict air velocity patterns and ratios in buildings. Finally, widely used CFD codes and tools are compared considering previous studies. It is concluded the application of codes for research is subject to the complexity and characteristics of a studied model, the area and field of study, the desired turbulence model, and the user interface.

Keywords: wind-driven ventilation; analytical models; experimental models; zonal models; computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models; numerical discretization methods (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12721/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/22/12721/ (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:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:22:p:12721-:d:681193

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

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