Abstract
Numbers of factors such as noise exposure may constrain the use of natural ventilation, especially in the urban settings. Noise exposure was the motivation behind a previous research effort, recognizing that noise exposure hampers the operation of windows for natural ventilation. Thereby, specific designs of double-leaf façade solutions for concurrent natural ventilation and noise protection were empirically investigated. Tested variables included the position and size of the openings, the relative displacement of openings in the façade’s two layers, as well as acoustical dampening (sound absorption) in the interstitial space between the two layers. The study of the models estimated the resulting sound insulation level of double-layered façades as a function of the aforementioned variables. In the present contribution, we further examine the airflow implications of the aforementioned double-façade configurations via computational fluid dynamic application based on a generic single-zone space. Natural ventilation efficiency in the building is evaluated by means of computed mean velocity and age of air inside the zone. High-resolution 3D steady CFD simulations of single-sided ventilation are performed for 9 configurations (sizes and positions) of the openings in the double-layered façade. The results illustrate the effects of these configuration on air flow circumstances in the test space.
Highlights
Introduction and backgroundTypically, natural ventilation in buildings occurs through operation of inlets in buildings' envelope
As a high level of sound insulation of the building envelope is achieved when all windows are closed, natural ventilation requirements may be in conflict with noise protection requirements
While aspects of building envelope acoustics and natural ventilation have been studied in the past
Summary
Natural ventilation in buildings occurs through operation of inlets (usually windows) in buildings' envelope. Calculations and laboratory measurements regarding the sound insulation of an experimental DSF with multiple opening configurations were compared These efforts resulted in an empirically-based grey-box model for the estimation. We further explore the relationship between the levels of acoustical performance and ventilation performance Toward this end, a computational approach was pursued, whereby the implications of various facade configurations for the resulting air flow in a generic single-zone space were investigated. High-resolution coupled (outdoor wind flow and indoor airflow) 3D steady RANS CFD simulations of single sided-ventilation were performed for 9 configurations (sizes and positions) of the openings in the facade's two layers (see section 3 below)
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