Experimental simulation of wind driven cross-ventilation in a naturally ventilated building

Abstract

A device was designed and constructed to simulate cross-ventilation through a building due to natural wind. The wind driver device was designed for use with a one tenth scale model of an open floor plan office building in Luton, England. The air flow patterns produced by the wind driver were observed, and the uniformity of the velocity of the flows into the model windows was measured for the three settings of the wind driver fans. The temperatures and velocities of flows on the interior of the building and at the exhaust windows were also examined. The wind driver device was capable of producing uniform velocities across the face of the model to within 20 to 27%, depending on the fan setting. The consistency of certain features of the velocity distributions produced by the wind driver operating at different speeds suggest that improvements made to the design of the wind driver could lower this variation to about 15%. The velocities measured on the interior of the model seem consistent with interior velocities in the Luton building, although further experimentation is needed to confirm this trend. Cross-ventilation was effective in reducing interior model temperatures by up to 10⁰C from the natural convection case.