Windy Cities

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NSW9R1IVAk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEBLt6Kd9EY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=porZ2jOaYew
 London Smog

… and now

Then …
What is wind?
 Turbulence
Unstable eddies in the wind which disrupt the
flow of air

Turbulence is rotational, three

dimensional air flow

Turbulence quickly turns the energy from moving air into heat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jge03Qls6s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTOl0lTet9A
Flow around a single building

How does
air flow
around a
building?
Flow around a single building

Strong surface winds

 Streets far apart

Streets close together

Flow down Parallel Streets

 How does air Flow around Buildings?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lSvDKv7sTg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HUUENCQFto
Source of Dye Wind direction

Source www.dapple.org.uk
Flow down Parallel Streets
 Wind Tunnel Experiments
Model scale ~ 1:400  ~ 400 times faster than in nature !!!
flat roof H/W=0.6 flat roof H/W=1.0

high pitch H/W=0.6 high pitch H/W=1.0

BT Tower NE wind direction
Probability of Wind Nuisance at Eindhoven University

Hall to be replaced

B. Blocken et al. / Environmental Modelling & Software 30 (2012) 15e34

Computer simulation of whole city air flow
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=x3w6w0B6pf8
 Summary
• Urban air flow is complicated!
• Swirling flow is generated by buildings
• At street level, the flow can even be in the
opposite direction to the wind higher up
• There can be large gusts at street level which
can be annoying or even dangerous
• Pollution can be concentrated in areas of low
wind speed.
• Architects and urban planners try to design
buildings to maximise their natural ventilation,
and to prevent dangerous air flow around them.