Energy and Buildings, Vol.42, No.10, 1711-1718, 2010
Improved airflow around multiple rows of buildings in hot arid climates
This paper studies the natural wind environments in two locations of hot climate regions at Egypt. Aswan and Farafra in south and west Egypt were selected. Two proposed models are simulated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in two cases of wind velocities. The two models have different both of dimensions at passages and cavities between buildings and shapes of windward sides of buildings. The wide distances between passages of buildings at the same row and rectangular shapes that have slope exterior wall in two directions at the windward sides are devoted to Aswan. The narrow distances between passages of buildings at the same row and rectangular shapes that have trapezoid courtyards that face wind are devoted to Farafra. The results show that the Aswan model can achieve at the inlet surfaces (windward side of buildings) 1.8-2.4 m/s (60-80% of wind velocity) especially at the second and third rows of indoor air velocity which is the required indoor air velocity for comfort. The Farafra model which uses a courtyard can achieve at the inlet surface 1-1.2 m/s (33-41% of wind velocity) which is less than the required indoor air velocity for comfort. The results can achieve the high rate of wind velocity 38-70% and between two and three times comparing favorably with previous studies that report only 20% of wind velocity at the second row and 15% of wind velocity at the third row. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Urban planning;Thermal comfort;Climate elements;Air flow;Wind pressure;Normal wind direction;Wind velocity;Inlet surfaces;CFD models