The effects of wind velocity and building geometry on air change efficiency in light shafts: Case studies

Abstract

The evaluation of the air quality in light shafts requires a specific study of its air renewal ability due to building shape, dimensions and other external conditions. This research has studied the capacity of light shafts to provide natural ventilation through the air change efficiency concept. A methodology based on the limitation of the computational urban domain is used to adapt the indoor air change efficiency index for outdoor environments. Numerical simulations were performed using CFD and a model that was experimentally validated. The aim is to evaluate the effect of the centreline building width and light shaft dimensions in the air change quality within several wind climates. Results would provide a numerically proven tool for designers, summarised in some design-based strategies in order to select which one improves the air change quality. The results indicate that the light shaft dimension perpendicular to the wind direction has a negligible effect on efficiency. For the range of wind velocities studied (0.75–9.00 m/s), the efficiency decreases at higher velocities, up to −7.41% with respect to the mean. For variations in the wind velocity and the centreline building width, a mean variation of ± 18.77% in the efficiency is obtained. Practical applications: The present methodology defines a proceeding to numerically evaluate the air change efficiency in light shafts inside different dimensional cases of buildings within several urban wind conditions.