Use of CFD IN BUILDINGS and Construction Projects

In building design it is typically used to model the movement and temperature of air within spaces.
This is important as it allows designers to investigate internal conditions before a building is built,
allowing them to test options and select the most effective solutions.

CFD can be used for modelling:

 The thermal comfort of occupants.

 The distribution of environmental conditions within a space.
 The effectiveness of building services (such as the positioning of air inlets and extracts or
radiators).
 The consequences of fire (such as the spread of heat and smoke).
 The effectiveness of natural ventilation (such as the stack effect).
 The build up of heat in specialist spaces such as server rooms.
 The positioning of sensors. For example in a tall space, the temperature at the top might be very
different to the temperature at the bottom. This can be important when
positioning temperature sensors that feed back to the building management system.
Otherwise, heating and cooling might be operating unnecessarily.

CFD can also be used to investigate the impact of a new building on air movement around a site, and
has been used to model other 'fluid' behaviour, such as the movement of people.

Simulations are typically run for a number of different scenarios, testing behaviour under different
levels of occupancy, different climatic conditions, in different modes of building services operation,
with different openings between spaces and so on. This can build up an overall picture of how
a building is likely to behave under normal operating conditions as well as during unusual or
extreme conditions.

 A Practical Guide to Building Thermal Modelling.

 Computational fluid dynamics in building design: An introduction FB 69.
 Convection.
 Conventions for calculating linear thermal transmittance and temperature factors.
 Dynamic thermal modelling of closed loop geothermal heat pump systems.
 Energy targets.
 Heating degree days.
 Integrating CFD into the design process.
 Heat transfer.
 Indoor air velocity.
 Mass transfer.
 Mechanical ventilation.
 Natural ventilation.
 Passive building design.
 The design of temporary structures and wind adjacent to tall buildings.
 The thermal behaviour of spaces enclosed by fabric membranes (Thesis).
 Thermal behaviour of architectural fabric structures.
 Thermal comfort.
 U-values.
 Ventilation.