Numerical investigation of indoor thermal comfort and air quality for a multi-purpose hall with various shading and glazing ratios

Abstract

This research assesses the effect of outdoor parameters, including solar radiation and shading and glazing configurations, on indoor thermal comfort and air quality in multi-purpose halls in Auckland, New Zealand. The Design of Experiment (DOE) method by using CFD simulation has been utilized for this study. Input parameters are windows length, overhang angle, and overhang length, while output parameters are occupant zone average temperature and mass fraction. The temperature sensitivity to the glazing parameter changes with time, and its maximum occurs at 11:00 and is 95%, while for the shading ones happen at 9:00 and is 50%. The peak of CO2 mass fraction sensitivity to glazing and shading parameters coincides at 9:00 and is 90% and 80, respectively. The variation rate of temperature and CO2 mass fraction VS. Glazing parameter (W.L) is approximately positive on the summer day. However, it has a nonlinear and complex behavior, while the shading one has a sinusoidal behavior. On the other hand, on the winter day, the temperature variation rate is almost linear regarding this factor. The result shows that appropriate shading and glazing situation for each time is different, and for reaching the best comfort, dynamic shading and glazing should be designed. Comfort criteria sensitivity within the school is highly dependent on glazing parameters compared with shading configurations. The temperature can be controlled up to 3 and 1.6 degrees on the summer and winter day, respectively. Finally, it can be concluded that glazing tools can compensate for a significant amount of required heating in the winter days, and shading devices and openings can control the air quality in the school buildings with neglectable overheating.