Using computational tools to factor wind into architectural environment design

Wind can have many positive attributes in an architectural environment such as providing a comfortable and healthy indoor environment and that can also save energy, by means of passive cooling or natural ventilation. However, wind can also cause discomfort to pedestrians if its speed around a building is too high, and it can also increase energy loss in the winter. Firstly, this paper will discuss the design strategies for wind in environmental and building design. It will then compare the available techniques used to study the wind effect in building design, such as a model mockup, wind tunnel, nodal/zonal models, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Among the techniques studied, CFD seems to be one of the most attractive for building environment design, since it is the most affordable, accurate, and informative method. This chapter will also illustrate a number of architectural indoor and outdoor environment designs that have utilized CFD. These include: airflow around a building complex; using building shape to prevent draft due to cold wind in a high rise building site; cross natural ventilation in a building; single-sided natural ventilation design.