Computer Simulation of Cooling Effect of Wind Tower on Passively Ventilated Building

Abstract

Traditional buildings are cooled and ventilated by mechanically induced drafts. Natural ventilation aspires to cool and ventilate a building by natural means, such as cross ventilation or wind towers, without mechanical equipment. A simple computer program was developed to simulate airflow through a wind tower based on tower dimensions and air temperature. The program was compared to experimental results with reasonable agreement. Parametric analysis indicates that interior air temperature approaches outdoor air temperature asymptotically as tower height and cross-sectional area are increased, and that it may be more cost effective to increase the tower?s height than its cross sectional area. The program was then used to simulate hour-by-hour indoor air temperatures of an occupied auditorium in Dayton, OH. The results indicate that a large wind tower was able to keep the temperature of an occupied auditorium at a comfortable level year round.