Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681

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Energy and Buildings

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Natural cross-ventilation in buildings: Building-scale experiments, numerical

simulation and thermal comfort evaluation
G.M. Stavrakakis a, M.K. Koukou b, M.Gr. Vrachopoulos b, N.C. Markatos a,*
a
Computational Fluid Dynamics Unit, School of Chemical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Iroon Polytechniou 9, GR-15780 Athens, Greece
b
Environmental Research Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technological Educational Institution of Halkida, Psachna GR-34400, Greece

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

The constantly increasing energy consumption due to the use of mechanical ventilation contributes to
Article history:
Received 29 November 2007 atmospheric pollution and global warming. An alternative method to overcome this problem is natural
Received in revised form 8 February 2008 ventilation. The proper design of natural ventilation must be based on detailed understanding of airflow
Accepted 19 February 2008 within enclosed spaces, governed by pressure differences due to wind and buoyancy forces. In the present
study, natural cross-ventilation with openings at non-symmetrical locations is examined experimentally
Keywords: in a test chamber and numerically using advanced computational fluid dynamics techniques. The
Natural ventilation experimental part consisted of temperature and velocity measurements at strategically selected
Cross-ventilation locations in the chamber, during noon and afternoon hours of typical summer days. External weather
Turbulence conditions were recorded by a weather station at the chamber’s site. The computational part of the study
Buoyancy consisted of the steady-state application of three Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models
CFD
modified to account for both wind and buoyancy effects: the standard k–e, the RNG k–e and the so-called
Thermal comfort
‘‘realizable’’ k–e models. Two computational domains were used, corresponding to each recorded wind
incidence angle. It is concluded that all turbulence models applied agree relatively well with the
experimental measurements. The indoor thermal environment was also studied using two thermal
comfort models found in literature for the estimation of thermal comfort under high-temperature
experimental conditions.
ß 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Mechanical ventilation in buildings is common practice
nowadays, due to the need to provide thermal comfort and good
indoor air quality in enclosed spaces. The energy consumption
related to the operation of heating, ventilating and air-condition-
ing (HVAC) systems is considerable. According to recently
published data, nearly 68% of the total energy used in service
and residential buildings is attributable to HVAC systems [1]. On
the other hand, natural ventilation replaces indoor air with fresh
outdoor air without any energy consumption, and it also helps to
overcome common health problems related to insufficient
maintenance of mechanical ventilation systems. Typically, the
energy cost of a naturally ventilated building is 40% less than that
of an air-conditioned building [2,3]. From a design’s point of view,
it is noticeable that modern building designers make imaginative
use of glass and space to create well-lit and attractive interiors [4].
However, these buildings are usually characterised by tightness
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +30 210772 3126; fax: +30 210772 3228.
E-mail addresses: gstavr@mail.ntua.gr, N.Markatos@ntua.gr (N.C. Markatos).
and highly glazed facades, often with poor shading. This, combined
with extra heat gains from the electric lighting and office
equipment, such as computers and photocopiers, increase the
overheating risk that is finally leading to a significant degradation
of indoor thermal comfort [5]. This problem is challenging for
engineers who must design optimum ventilation systems given
the above constraints of improvident application of HVAC systems.
Natural ventilation uses the freely available resources of wind and
solar energy and could represent an optimum ventilation
technique. Although, these resources are free, they are very
difficult to control [4]. The challenge is to provide the appropriate
control mechanisms to establish the required indoor air quality
(IAQ). To achieve this, it is necessary to understand the physics of
natural ventilation.
The air movement in a naturally ventilated building is a result of
pressure differences produced by wind and buoyancy forces [4,6].
The most common models to predict the performance of naturally
ventilated buildings are network, zonal and field (computational
fluid dynamics, CFD) models. Network models are used for the
airflow rate prediction through the openings of a building. This
kind of models can predict the airflow rates adequately but have
the disadvantage of not predicting the airflow field inside the

0378-7788/$ – see front matter ß 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enbuild.2008.02.022
 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681 1667

building, thus they produce little information about pollutant main conclusion was that indoor thermal comfort in summer can
transport and local thermal discomfort. When experimental data be improved by appropriately controlling window opening, in
do not exist, network models could be used for validation of accordance with the temporal variations of indoor and outdoor
implemented CFD models, such as in reference [7]. On the other climatic conditions.
hand, zonal modelling may predict both the airflow rates and air The objective of the present study is to investigate the potential
distribution with relatively high accuracy, especially when of RANS modelling in natural cross-ventilation for an experimental
temperature variations are concerned. However, applications of chamber with two openings (doors) at non-symmetrical locations.
these models in cases of mixed convection in indoor spaces The research focuses on the numerical analysis of indoor airflow
showed that zonal models did not provide satisfactory predictions using CFD techniques and the validation of the numerical
for velocity distribution concerning indoor airflow [8]. In this last predictions with the experimental results. Both wind and buoy-
investigation, CFD and zonal models were compared with available ancy forces were taken into account to obtain results for velocity
experimental data. The main conclusion was that zonal modelling and temperature distributions. The numerical results were
under-predicted velocity distribution compared to the CFD model validated with the experimental measurements for two typical
which provided higher accuracy concerning the airflow field and summer days. The reliability of the mathematical models applied
thus gave a better prediction of the recirculation region. The same was also investigated using two different computational domains,
conclusion may be found in reference [9], where isothermal indoor according to the wind incidence angle and also accounting for
airflow is investigated. This work shows that airflow predictions in internal–external flow effects. Finally, thermal conditions of the
large spaces are substantially more accurate when obtained by a chamber were examined by integrating two additional mathema-
CFD model, even with coarse grids, than that obtained by various tical models, found in literature [22–26], standing for thermal
zonal models. Finally, for complicated flow fields the specification comfort.
of ‘‘zones’’ is at best speculative. For this reason, field modelling is
considered to be a more accurate method to deal with the problem 2. Method of analysis
of natural cross ventilation. Especially when the airflow is
2.1. General
represented by strong streamline curvature, due to wind forces,
CFD modelling is considered as the most suitable tool for reliable In the present study, natural cross-ventilation is examined
airflow simulation. The more accurate the information of any experimentally and numerically. The experiments took place in a
recirculation region the more advanced the knowledge about local chamber, also presented in reference [27], that was built, among
thermal discomfort (especially due to air draughts) and pollutant others, for indoor air quality examination purposes and consisted
distribution; for example, the possibility of pollutant confinement of a roof covered with roman tiles and a radiant barrier reflective
in certain regions of the indoor space. insulation system (Fig. 1, Section 2.2 for further details). Two doors
Natural ventilation has been widely investigated by many are located at the north and south facing walls and the room is
researchers. Jiang et al. [10] presented an extensive experimental ventilated through these openings. A small internal partition of
and computational study (LES, large eddy simulation) of natural 1 m height is also located adjacent to the north wall. As far as wind
ventilation, driven only by wind forces for simple geometries forces are concerned, both doors were kept wide open (cross-
representing cross-ventilation and single-sided ventilation con- ventilation) to ensure relatively large pressure differences. The
figurations. In order to reduce the computational cost, Evola and reflective insulation of the side walls causes temperature
Popov [11] applied Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) differences between internal and external surfaces of the walls.
models, the standard and the RNG k–e models, for the experimental This creates temperature difference among internal wall surfaces
set up described in reference [10], and also obtained reasonable
accuracy for the velocity distribution inside the building model and
also for the ventilation flow rates. In most cases, research for wind
forces effects on natural cross-ventilation is focused on wind
tunnel experiments for symmetric building-like models, and is
often associated with advanced turbulence models such as LES
[11–15]. These investigations provide useful information about the
air movement inside buildings, but the geometrical symmetry and
the controlled conditions in wind tunnels mean that the flow takes
place under idealized conditions. Building-scale experimental
results of the wind effect for a single-sided ventilation case were
presented by Dascalaki et al. [16]. A validated LES model for this
case may also be found in reference [15]. Buoyancy-driven single-
sided natural ventilation has also been studied widely for the
assessment of any heat gain by internal heat sources in enclosed
spaces [17,18]. Experimental measurements and numerical
analysis of this type of natural ventilation may be found in
reference [17], where an LES model is validated with experimental
data for a simple geometry. In case of problems with more complex
geometries, for which the demand of computational resources is
high, RANS modelling may produce reasonably accurate results
[18,2]. The first application of such models was back in 1983 by
Markatos [19]. A case of combining wind and buoyancy forces was
presented by Chen [20], for the discussion of the potential of CFD in
order to design buildings that take advantage of the wind, with
internal heat gains taken into account. Thermal comfort provided
by natural ventilation has also been studied in reference [21]. The Fig. 1. (a) Experimental chamber and (b) geometrical details.
1668 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681

and incoming outdoor thermal masses and consequently genera-

tion of buoyancy forces. The above-mentioned arrangement of the
building establishes an internal air movement governed by both
wind and buoyancy forces.
Referring to the numerical simulation, a mathematical model
was developed for the prediction of indoor air movement, within
the general framework provided by a commercial CFD code
(FLUENT 6.3.26). The model is based on three high Reynolds
number RANS turbulence models, modified for buoyancy effects,
that were tested following the procedure reported in reference
[28]. Boundary conditions were provided by measurements
accomplished for internal flow by thermo-couples or for external
flow by a weather station. The simulated airflow was examined in
terms of two different computational domains, due to various wind
incidence angles, and finally the temperature and velocity
distributions were the outcome of the solution procedure.
Thermal comfort predictions in the occupied zone were also
included using two models found in literature, assessing local and
global (general) discomfort. The first one, used for local discomfort
assessment, is the well-known PMV/PPD model [22–24], extended
to account for non-air-conditioned buildings in warm climates
[25]. The factors predicted mean vote (PMV), predicted percentage
dissatisfied (PPD) and percentage dissatisfied (PD) represent a
quantification of thermal dissatisfaction of occupants under
several activity levels and clothing, with respect to air tempera-
ture, air velocity, turbulence, wall temperatures and relative
humidity. The second thermal comfort model, used for global
discomfort assessment, is the so-called ‘‘adaptive model’’ of
thermal comfort in naturally ventilated buildings found in Fig. 2. Arrangement of probes for: (a) case A and (b) case B.

references [26] and [29], where it is presented as an optional

model. It is based on an extensive field study by de Dear et al. [30]
and determines a range of indoor comfort temperatures that
correspond to a percentage of thermal acceptability, as a function
of the mean monthly outdoor temperature. Details for both models
are given in Section 2.3 below.
2.2. Experimental equipment, methodology and results
The test room is of dimensions 6 m  4 m  5.5 m (Fig. 1a and
b). The side walls are a two series brick construction with a bubble
material lamination among layers of aluminum foil placed in the
20 mm gap of the brick layers. The total wall thickness consists of
90 mm brick, 10 mm air gap, 1 or 2 mm reflective insulation,
10 mm air gap and 90 mm brick. The walls can be coated internally
and externally resulting to a total width ranging from 200 to
240 mm (including a 20 mm thickness of the wall sheathing-
plaster on each side). The experimental measurements referring to
velocity and temperature, obtained at various locations of the test
room were selected according to regulations found in reference
[24]. The schedule of the experiments included 3 h total sampling
period for two typical summer days and the time-interval
sampling between consecutive measurements was 60 s. Under
those imposed conditions, there were simultaneous recordings of
temperature and velocity at the middle of the inlet door A1 or A2
(being south or north doors, respectively, according to wind data
taken by a weather station), at positions B1, B2, C1, C2, C3 and of
temperature at point D (middle of the room) (Fig. 2a). That was for
the first day’s arrangement (case A). For the second day’s
experimental arrangement (case B), the sampling points were
different and measurements were obtained as follows: velocity
and temperature at A1 or A2, B1, B2, B3, C1, C2, C3 (Fig. 2b). For
both experiments, temperatures at the middle of the internal
surface of each wall were also recorded. The exact location,
measured flow property at each sampling point and which door
plays the role of inlet are given in Table 1. Temperature and
(one-dimensional) velocity measurements in the test room were
obtained using the KIMO thermo-anemometer multi-probes VT
200F [31] with accuracy of 3% for readings of 0–3 m/s and 2% for
reading of 0.1 8C.
Temperature of internal wall surfaces of the walls was
measured using UTECO thermo-couples DIN 43732, connected
to a data logging system [32] for the collection of the experimental
results.
Sample experimental results obtained (also presented in
reference [33]), for example, for case A, referring to velocity and
temperature at the selected locations and the temperature of the
building walls are presented in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively.
Bi-directional flow may occur through the openings due to
buoyancy forces. In this case, information about the infiltrating air
may be lost by placing the air speed sensor at the middle of the
inlet door. Thus, it is important to investigate this possibility under
the current experimental conditions for both cases. The measured
temperature differences between indoor and outdoor airflows
were 1.9 and 1.0 8C for cases A and B (see Table 2; Fig. 3),
respectively. According to the above temperature differences, the
comparison of the importance of wind and buoyancy forces is
obtained using the Archimedes number as follows [15]:
Grashof bgH3 DT
Ar ¼ 2
¼ (1)
Reynolds U 2 D2
where b = 1/Tref is the thermal expansion coefficient, Tref the
reference temperature taken as T ref ¼ ðT outdoor þ T walls average Þ=2,
 
1:9  C for case A
g = 9.81 m/s2 the gravitational force, DT ¼  , U
1:0 C for case B
the wind speed at the building height. Its value is taken by the
power-law profile of the incoming wind using Eq. (3). H is the
height of the inlet door and D is the chamber’s depth equal to 4 m
(see Fig. 1b).
 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681 1669

Table 1
x, y, z coordinates of experimental locations

Case A A1 A2 (inlet) B1 B2 C1 C2 C3 D

Coordinates (x, y, z) 5.25, 0, 1.1 0.75, 4, 1.1 4.7, 0.7, 0.5 4.7, 0.7, 1.25 1.8, 1.6, 0.77 1.8, 1.6, 1.4 1.8, 1.6, 1.93 3, 2, 2.75
Temperature O X X X X X X X
Velocity O X X X X X X O

Case B A1 (inlet) A2 B1 B2 B3 C1 C2 C3

Coordinates (x, y, z) 5.25, 0, 1.1 0.75, 4, 1.1 3, 2, 0.2 3, 2, 2 3, 2, 3 0.7, 2, 0.5 0.7, 2, 1 0.7, 2, 2
Temperature X O X X X X X X
Velocity X O X X X X X X

Symbols: X for measured property, O for non-measured property.

Using the above data, Eq. (1) gives an Ar number equal to 0.02
and 0.0029 for cases A and B, respectively. Thus, because of Ar  1
for both cases, natural convection due to the buoyancy effect is
much smaller than forced convection due to the wind effect.
Furthermore, the chamber is free of internal thermal sources and
also, even though the height at which wind speed is recorded is
relatively low (7.5 m), the chamber is built in a rural environment
free of thermal sources. All the above advocate that the airflow
inside and outside the chamber is wind dominant. However, the
buoyancy effect is not neglected in the CFD model due to the
presence of experimental results for temperature, used for further
verification of the numerical results.
Under the action of the wind, and taking into account that both
openings have the same dimensions and also that the internal
space has no obstacles except the small partition, the air flows in
through the one opening leading to high pressures at this area. The
pressure at the opposite door is lower and due to this pressure
difference between the two doors, the air is finally leaving the
chamber through the opposite door. According to the above
analysis, the flow through the openings is not bi-directional (if it
were it would have been predicted by the CFD model, which is
described below, as, for example, in reference [2]). Thus, the
velocity at the middle of the opening is representative of the air
entering the chamber.
2.3. Mathematical modelling
2.3.1. The governing equations
Natural ventilation is a phenomenon of random nature due to
the constant changes of external weather conditions. Thus, any
mathematical model applied for the prediction of natural
ventilation should include the dynamic nature of the external
conditions. In applying a CFD method one should ideally use a
time-dependent approach, which, however, would require knowl-
edge of the time-dependent variations of the boundary conditions
used. This technique would provide very detailed and useful
information about natural ventilation but it requires excessive
computational resources for practical applications. An engineer’s
approach to overcome such technical restrictions is the steady-
state assumption, as most phenomena take place at almost steady-
state conditions over long periods of time. Furthermore, during
day-time cycles in real buildings, temperature changes occur but
the steady-state assumption is considered to be valid over long
periods, because the time needed for the development of the
airflow pattern is short compared to the duration of the day-time
cycle and the values of the time constants of the massive building
elements required for passive ventilation. Thus, in order to
recognize potential time-averaged values of temperatures and
velocities, two temporal sub-domains were chosen, representative
of minimum fluctuations of monitored flow properties for noon
and afternoon hours of cases A and B, respectively. The selected
time periods were 13:00–13:30 h (case A) and 19:00–19:30 h (case
B). In any case, the mathematical model developed is general and
may be applied to both steady-state and transient problems, as
required.
The ensemble-averaged values of the external wind were
selected for time periods not exceeding the recommended time
period limit of 30 min, as found in reference [34] for field
measurements. Following this, the selected 30 min time periods of
the experimental cases studied were identified according to – as

Fig. 3. Typical experimental results for velocity and temperature, case A. Fig. 4. Temperature at the middle of the internal surface of each wall, case A.
1670 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681
Table 2
Experimental conditions
External conditions
Cases Inflow planes (Fig. 5) Relative humidity (%)
Case A A1, A2 19.2
Case B B1 24.8
Internal conditions
Cases Tnorth wall
Case A 300.9
Case B 302.0
stable as possible – recordings of external and internal conditions
provided by the weather station and the hot-wires, respectively. A
similar technique can also be found in reference [35]. Significant
information is provided by the steady-state solution concerning
the effects of the prevailing ensemble-averaged values of winds of
any building’s site on the internal structure of the flow. Since CFD is
based on mean representative wind data, it could lead to optimal
designs even in the pre-construction phase of a building, with the
external ‘‘fluid mechanics’’ taken into account.
The mathematical model applies numerical techniques to solve
the Navier-Stokes (N-S), continuity and energy equations for 3D,
turbulent fluid flow. All the governing conservation equations, for
steady-state conditions, can be written in the following general
form [36]:
divðr~
u’  G ’ grad’Þ ¼ S’
where w is the dependent variable, i.e. 1 for mass continuity, ~u for
velocity, T for temperature, Ci for the concentration of various
chemical species i, Gw the ‘‘effective’’ exchange coefficient of
variable w and Sw is the source/sink term of variable w [36]. The
transferred quantity w also stands for turbulence dependent
variables, here k the kinetic energy of turbulence and e the eddy
dissipation rate. In this study, three RANS models were applied, the
standard k–e, the RNG k–e [37] and the so-called ‘‘realizable’’ k–e
[38] model, all modified to account for buoyancy effects due to
density differences [28]. All models treat flow effects close to walls
using standard wall functions [39,40]. The assumptions made for the
problem were: (a) single phase, steady-state flow for a Newtonian
fluid and (b) heat transfer at the walls by either conduction or
radiation was neglected due to the already measured internal-wall-
surface temperature and the use of reflective insulation.
The CFD code used for the numerical simulations employs a
standard finite-volume method and a body-fitted structured grid
[41], which is adopted to account for two different computational
domains, corresponding to 358 (grid A) and 908 (grid B) wind
incidence angle for cases A and B, respectively (Section 2.3.2 for
further details). The first-order upwind discretization scheme and
the SIMPLE solution algorithm for handling pressure were used
[42]. Simulations were performed on a Windows PC with one
2.4 GHz CPUs and 1 GB of RAM and required approximately 36 and
24 h for the optimum grids A and B, respectively.
2.3.2. Computational domains and spatial discretization
As mentioned earlier, two grid methodologies were applied for
the simulation according to the wind incidence angle. The main
purpose was to simulate the air movement in the chamber as a
result of the interaction among internal and external flow effects,
within reasonable computational resources. The problem follows
the general theoretical aspects of the flow around a bluff body.
Consequently, specific techniques found in literature [43,44] were
applied concerning the computational domain. Thus, in case of
Outdoor temperature (K) Wind speed at 7.5 m (m/s) Incidence angle (u)
308.90 1.48 358
305.50 2.85 908
Tsouth wall Twest wall Teast wall
303.0 301.4 302.0
302.1 302.0 302.1
vertical wind direction (case B) the computational domain, for
which grid B was constructed, had a downstream length of 10H (H:
chamber’s height), an upstream length of 5H, a lateral length of 5H
on both sides of the chamber and a height of 18.2H, in order to
impose, as inflow boundary conditions, the appropriate velocity
and turbulence distribution, corresponding to the atmospheric
boundary layer. In case of non-vertical wind direction (case A), two
inflow boundaries are needed to account for the incoming wind. In
order to capture the reattachment point downwind to the chamber
correctly, two outflow boundaries were imposed being the
downwind faces of the flow domain. This leads to a computational
domain, resulting to grid A, which consisted of 10H length among
the chamber’s external walls and all lateral boundaries with the
high boundary being at the same height as in the case of vertical
wind direction. The computational domains constructed for each
(2)
experimental case and the corresponding inlet door are presented
in Fig. 5.
Since grid A is simply a result of dimensional expansion of grid B
in regions where no flow obstructions occur, a grid-independency
study was only performed for grid B. The optimum mesh produced
for grid B led to the optimum grid A with additional meshing in the
extra regions of the computational domain in the case of non-
vertical flow direction. Spatial discretization of the flow domain
was examined by repeating runs for grids with continuously
increased grid-nodes density. A comparison for the vertical
velocity distribution at the middle of the test room, obtained
using various grids is presented in Fig. 6.
The solution obtained using each grid was also examined for
other independent variables at various physical locations of the
domain and, as demonstrated in Fig. 6, a grid-independent solution
was achieved using a grid consisting of 636,456 hexahedral cells
for grid B and, consequently, a grid of 730,488 hexahedral cells for
grid A, corresponding to experimental cases B and A, respectively.
Fig. 5. Computational domains for each case: A1 and A2, inflow boundaries for case
A; B1, inflow boundary for case B.
 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681
Fig. 6. Velocity distribution with height at the middle of the test room for various
grids (case of grid B).
The optimum discretization for both grids A and B is presented in
Fig. 7. The selection of a structured grid, instead of a more
convenient unstructured was due to more accurate results that
may be obtained, at least for the case of the flow around a bluff
body, using a structured grid, as found in reference [45].
The grids used were highly non-uniform characterised by high
grid-nodes density near solid surfaces. The minimum cell size
Fig. 7. Optimum mesh for both grids A and B: (a) three-dimensional meshing, (b) longitudinal meshing, (c) partition’s height plane meshing and (d) traverse plane meshing.
1671
near each wall was 0.05 m, leading to y+ values less than 150 in
order to apply properly ‘‘wall-function’’ boundary conditions
[39,46].
2.3.3. Boundary conditions and special sources
For some of the imposed boundary conditions measured data
representing external and internal conditions have been used,
while the rest are set according to well-known practices
[2,11,21]. For the selected time periods (Section 2.2) of
experimental monitoring, time-averaged values were produced
referring to outdoor temperature, relative humidity, wind speed
and direction at 7.5 m from the ground, as provided by a weather
station. At the interior, wall temperatures were measured at the
middle of each internal wall surface. The measured boundary
values are summarized in Table 2. According to these measured
flow variables, the boundary conditions were categorized as
follows:
(1) Solid planes: No-slip, no-penetration condition for momentum
and fixed temperatures.
(2) Symmetry planes: Zero normal velocity and zero normal
gradients of all variables.
(3) Outflow planes: Zero diffusion flux for all variables and overall
mass balance correction [47].
1672 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681

(4) Inflow planes: Specified external temperature and moisture recorded velocity and the calculated one (Eq. (3)) at 7.5 and at
mass fraction as given by the weather station. Modified 300 m, respectively, by the weather station using Eq. (3). l is the
equations of the atmospheric boundary layer [48] were mixing length, l = min[kz, 0.085h]. k = 0.41 stands for the Von
used to account also for incidence angles other than Karman constant and Cm = 0.09.
vertical: The main difference of the ‘‘realizable’’ k–e model against the
other two models is that it is based on the dynamic equation for
 z 1=7 fluctuating vorticity. This leads to a Cm value expressed as function
u ¼ uref (3) of vorticity and not just as a fixed value [38]. However, the imposed
h
Cm at the inflow boundaries is considered acceptable as the
 z 1=7 incoming flow is simulated as a flat boundary layer, for which
v ¼ vref (4) experiments have shown that Cm  0.09 in the inertial sublayer
h
[38].
u2  z 2 The experimental chamber is built in a flat rural environment
kinflow ¼ pffiffiffiffiffiffi 1 (5) (Psachna area, Evia, Greece) surrounded by low-rise trees and low-
Cm h
rise residences at a sufficiently away distance. Thus, any external
3=2 disturbance of the incoming wind is assumed to be eliminated and
Cm3=4 k
einflow ¼ (6) the flow is re-established at its form of the atmospheric boundary
l
layer equations. Therefore, for full-scale 3D modelling, a stand-
where u, v, kinflow, einflow are the inflow velocity and turbulence alone rural-type chamber is assumed. The exponent of the power-
properties; uref ¼ velref sin u and vref ¼ velref cos u, h = 300 m. u stands law for a surface terrain that represents a flat rural site is taken as
for wind incidence angle. If u = 908 then Eqs. (3)–(6) were imposed 1/7 (Eqs. (3) and (4)). Two additional runs have been performed for
only at the upwind boundary (plane B1, see Fig. 5). If u < 908 then the investigation of the terrain’s roughness impact on the
Eqs. (3)–(6) were imposed at the upwind (west) and at the one numerical results, using the standard k–e model. For this reason,
lateral (north) boundary (planes
pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
ffi A1 and A2, see Fig. 5). u* is the 1/7 and 1/6 power-law profiles were applied, corresponding to flat
friction velocity, u ¼ tw =r. tw is the shear stress and tw ¼ and typical rural environment, respectively [49]. The results
f rvel2ref =2 is the density of the mixture of air and moisture. f is the obtained are presented, for example, along the vertical direction of
1=4
friction coefficient f ¼ 0:045ðvelref h=vÞ . v is the kinematic C1, C2 and C3 experimental locations, in Fig. 8. It is observed that
viscosity of air. velref is the wind velocity at 100 m provided by the no significant differences occur and thus both profiles could be

Fig. 8. Numerical results for 1/7 and 1/6 power-law inlet profiles for: (a) incoming wind velocity, (b) x-velocity and (c) temperature along the vertical direction of C1, C2 and
C3 experimental locations (case B, u = 908).
 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681
used to predict natural ventilation of the chamber with the same
accuracy.
2.3.4. Water vapour transportation modelling
The basic assumption of moisture transport modelling is that
air is considered as a mixture of dry air and water vapour. Water
vapour represents a scalar transported by the airflow (dry air:
carrier gas), according to the general Eq. (2), that becomes:
uY H2 O þ ~
divðr~ J H2 O Þ ¼ S H2 O
where Y H2 O is the water vapour mass fraction in the mixture, ~
J H2 O
the diffusion flux and SH2 O is the source (water vapour production)
imposed as a fixed mass fraction at the inflow boundary as a
function of the measured relative humidity, temperature and
vapour pressure at the chamber’s site.
The diffusion flux, ~
JH2 O , can be written as:
 
m rT
J H2 O ¼  rDH2 O;m þ t rY H2 O  DT;H2 O
~ (8)
Sct T
where DH2 O;m is the mass diffusion coefficient for water vapour in the
mixture and DT;H2 O is the thermal diffusion coefficient. The first one
found in literature [50] with respect to the reference temperature
(defined as an averaged value among internal and external tempera-
ture), while the second one was calculated using the kinetic-theory
method [47]. As far as the other factors are concerned, Sct is the
0:078
turbulence Schmidt number and mt is the turbulence viscosity.
Referring to the physical properties of the mixture, they were
imposed using the ideal gas law for an incompressible flow for
density, the ideal gas mixing law for both thermal conductivity and
viscosity, while the heat capacity is expressed as a mass-fraction-
average of moisture and air’s heat capacities [47]. The above
methods use constant values of the species properties at the
reference temperature.
2.3.5. Thermal comfort modelling
For thermal comfort evaluation, under the already described
extreme summer experimental conditions, the extended PMV
model was firstly implemented in the mathematical CFD model.
The extended PMV model for non-air-conditioned buildings is
based on the inclusion of the expectancy factor, e, which is
assumed to depend on the duration of the warm weather over the
12:1u0:5
year and whether non-air-conditioned buildings can be compared
with many others in the region that are air-conditioned. For
example, if the weather is warm all year or most of the year and
there are no or few other air-conditioned buildings, e may be 0.5,
while it may be 0.7 if there are many other buildings with air-
conditioning. In regions with only brief periods of warm weather
during the summer, the expectancy factor may be 0.9–1. Another
critical factor which contributes to the reported difference
between the calculated PMV and actual thermal sensation in
non-air-conditioned buildings is the estimated activity. People,
unconsciously, tend to slow down their activity and thus they
adapt to the warm environment by decreasing their metabolic rate.
It has been found that the metabolic rate is reduced by 6.7% for
every scale unit of PMV above neutral. Further details of the
extended PMV can be found in reference [25]. The numerical
procedure includes the calculation of the traditional PMV (for air-
conditioned spaces) and the reduction of the metabolic rate by 6.7%,
using linear interpolation techniques to account for intermediate
values of PMV in the intervals {0,1}, {1,2}, {2,3} (Eq. (16)). After that,
the PMV is recalculated and the emerged value is multiplied by the
expectancy factor, e. PMV ranges from 3 to +3 for cold and hot
sensations, respectively, with mid values representing intermediate
thermal perception states. On the other hand, this factor can be
expressed in terms of dissatisfied occupants’ percentage using the
1673
PPD factor. As far as discomfort due to air draughts is concerned, it
can be quantified with respect to local air velocity, temperature and
turbulence intensity using the PD factor. The algebraic expressions
of this integrated model are as follows.
2.3.5.1. PMV for natural ventilation.
PMVtrad ¼ ½0:303expð0:036MÞ þ 0:028 L (9)
where PMVtrad is the traditional PMV (for HVAC), M the metabolic
(7) rate (W/m2), applied for standing sedentary activity in the present
study [24] and L is the thermal load on the body expressed as
follows:
L ¼ internal heat production
 heat loss to the actual environment
L ¼ M  W  f3:96  108 f cl ½ðT cl þ 273Þ4  ðT r þ 273Þ4
þ f cl hc ðT cl  TÞ þ 3:05  103 ½5733  6:99ðM  WÞ
 pv þ 0:42ðM  W  58:15Þ þ 1:7  105 Mð5867
 pv Þ þ 0:0014Mð34  TÞ g (10)
2
where W stands for active work or shivering (W/m ) and fcl is the
garment insulation factor (1 clo = 0.155 m2 K/W) expressed as:
 
1:05 þ 0:645Icl ; Icl
f cl ¼ (11)
1 þ 1:29Icl ; Icl < 0:078
The term Icl stands for the resistance to sensible heat transfer
provided by a clothing ensemble (clo) and its value was taken for
typical clothing insulation under summer conditions (0.5 clo). The
Tcl (8C) term is defined as the cloth temperature and is determined
below as:
T cl ¼ 35:7  0:028ðM  WÞ  Icl f3:96
 108 f cl ½ðT cl þ 273Þ4  ðT r þ 273Þ4 þ f cl hc ðT cl  TÞg (12)
In Eqs. (10) and (12), T (8C) is the calculated local air
temperature by the CFD model, hc is the heat-transfer coefficient
between the cloth and air (W/m2 K) and Tr (8C) is the mean radiant
temperature (Eq. (14)). The heat-transfer coefficient is given by:
 
2:38ðT cl  TÞ0:25 for 2:38ðT cl  TÞ0:25
hc ¼ 0:5 0:25 0:5
(13)
12:1u for 2:38ðT cl  TÞ < 12:1u
where u is the local velocity calculated by the CFD model.
The mean radiant temperature is computed for an averaged
wall temperature, since there were no significant differences
between wall temperatures during the experiments, i.e.:
X
4
Tr ¼ T i F pi (14)
i¼1
where Ti is the temperature value at the i wall and Fpi stands for
the radiation shape factor from face p of a grid cell to the visible
room surface i.
The water vapour pressure, which participates in Eq. (10), was
calculated using the following equation:
PY H2 O =ð1  Y H2 O Þ
pv ¼ (15)
0:622 þ Y H2 O =ð1  Y H2 O Þ
where P is the local absolute pressure calculated by the CFD model.
The PMV is then recalculated using Eqs. (9)–(15) with a reduced
metabolic rate (Mred) according to Eq. (16) below:
8 9
< 0:067M  PMVtrad þ M; PMVtrad 2 ½0; 1 =
Mred ¼ 0:067M  PMVtrad þ 1:004M; PMVtrad 2 ð1; 2 (16)
: ;
0:067M  PMVtrad þ 1:013M; PMVtrad 2 ð2; 3
1674 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681
Consequently, PMV for natural ventilation (PMVNV) is deter-
mined as follows:
PMVNV ¼ e½0:303expð0:036M red Þ þ 0:028 L (17)
where e is the expectancy factor (e = 0.7 for Athens [25]).
2.3.5.2. PPD and PD. Finally, the factors PPD and PD are computed
as follows:
PPD
PPDð%Þ ¼ 100  95exp½0:03353ðPMVNV Þ4
 0:2179ðPMVNV Þ2 (18)
PD
PDð%Þ ¼ ð34  TÞðu  0:05Þ0:62 ð3:14 þ 0:37uTu Þ (19)
for u < 0.05, use u = 0.05 m/s and for PD > 100%, use PD = 100%,
where Tu is the turbulence intensity Tu(%) = 100(2k)0.5/u.
The adaptive comfort standard has a mean comfort zone band
of 5 K for 90% acceptance, and another of 7 K for 80% acceptance,
Fig. 9. Numerical results by various wind velocities at 7.5 m height for: (a) incoming wind velocity, (b) x-velocity and (c) temperature along the vertical direction of
experimental locations C1, C2 and C3 (case B, u = 908).
both centered around the optimum comfort temperature calcu-
lated as follows [26,29]:
T opt:comf: ¼ 0:31T a;outdoor þ 17:8 ð CÞ (20)
where Topt.comf. is the optimum indoor temperature for thermal
neutrality and Ta,outdoor is the mean monthly outdoor temperature.
The adaptive model can be applied within a mean outdoor
temperature range from 10 to 33 8C and thus it cannot provide
information for more severe weather conditions, such as those
described in case A. On the other hand, the PMV model [25] is
acceptable for all conditions. According to this restriction both
thermal comfort models were applied for case B. For case A, only
the extended PMV is used since the recorded outdoor temperature
(35.9 8C) was out of the range of the adaptive model’s applicability.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Airflow patterns
Due to the dynamic nature of the external wind, speed and
direction, the specification of the incoming wind’s boundary
conditions is highly uncertain. Thus, any mathematical approach
 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681
requires a parametric study to quantify the effect of boundary
conditions (bc’s) on the interior results. For this reason, such
sensitivity study was performed concerning vertical incidence
angle of the incoming wind (case B), using the standard k–e model.
This study produced results obtained for different wind speeds
measured at 7.5 m height, corresponding to possible fluctuating
recordings by the weather station. A 10% fluctuation factor to the
mean value of 2.85 m/s is applied to investigate the response of the
numerical results. According to this, recorded wind speeds of 2.565,
2.7075, 2.85, 2.9925 and 3.135 m/s were used. The corresponding bc
velocity profiles of the incoming wind are presented in Fig. 9(a), fitted
by the power-law equation (Eq. (3)). Runs were performed using
these profiles restarting the CFD program by the solution obtained for
u7.5m = 2.8 m/s to accelerate convergence. The numerical results
along the vertical direction of C1, C2 and C3 experimental locations
are presented in Fig. 9(b) and (c) for the x-component of velocity and
for temperature, respectively. It is observed that the solution is little
sensitive to a 10% variation of external wind speeds. Specifically, the
Fig. 10. Impact of the incoming wind’s incidence angle on the: (a) incoming wind x-velocity, (b) incoming wind y-velocity, (c) x-velocity and (d) temperature along the vertical
direction of experimental locations B1 and B2 (case A, u = 358).
1675
maximum divergence among the numerical results obtained for
2.85 m/s wind speed with those obtained for the other wind speeds is
ranging from 0.5% to 4% and 0.16% to 0.3% for x-velocity and
temperature, respectively.
The previous analysis verifies the assumption of using just one
mean wind-speed value as a time-averaged value and thus makes
the steady-state assumption to be valid, at least for practical
engineering purposes. Furthermore, the solution is not substan-
tially affected by the turbulence distributions at the inlet
boundaries as presented in reference [33]. In this last investigation,
the problem was solved using the equations of atmospheric
boundary layer for the extended domain and also for a limited,
between the two doors, domain applying a uniform velocity at the
inlet door. No significant qualitative difference was observed
among the two approaches with the first one, adopted in the
present study, leading to more accurate results.
The problem is also solved for different wind incidence angles,
using the standard k–e model, to evaluate the sensitivity of the
1676 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681

Fig. 11. Experimental and numerical results for: (a) x-velocity (case A, u = 358), (b) temperature (case A, u = 358), (c) x-velocity (case B, u = 908) and (d) temperature (case B, u = 908).

results to this parameter. The mean recorded value of the wind experimental results. In Fig. 10(a) and (b), the velocity
speed for the case A is 1.48 m/s (Table 2). Three incidence angles components of the incoming wind (Eqs. (3) and (4)) that
were tested numerically: 308, 358 and 408 corresponding to a represent the tested wind directions are presented. The impact of
time-averaged value of 358, used for comparisons with the the incoming wind’s incidence angle on the x-velocity and

Fig. 12. Velocity vectors at partition’s height for case A: (a) standard k–e; (b) realizable k–e and (c) RNG k–e.
 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681
temperature is presented in Fig. 10(c) and (d) along the vertical
direction of experimental locations B1 and B2. It is seen that the
results are little sensitive to a 15% change of the mean incidence
angle.
It should be emphasized that the usefulness of the developed
model lies in the fact that the same uncertainty in the results exists
for all designs that may be studied. In other words, although the
error in predicting a variable may be small or large it is going to be
also the same for all alternative designs considered. Thus, the
relative change to the results introduced by a design change will be
certainly predicted correctly.
Results obtained by both experimental measurements and
numerical predictions are presented in Fig. 11. Absolute values of
x-velocities are used for validation, i.e. absolute values of velocities
presented in Figs. 9(b) and 10(c) at each experimental location, as
only one-dimensional velocity magnitude measurements were
performed.
There are significant points to be noted resulting from the
comparison among experimental and numerical results. First of all,
it can be noticed that for case A, which represents noon hours with
358 incidence angle, the discrepancy for temperature at the inlet
door (A2) was only 0.8% using the standard k–e model, being
slightly higher using the other two models but in any case not
exceeding 1.5% when applying the RNG model. Low differences
were also obtained referring to the middle location of the chamber
(point D), especially by the RNG k–e model for which the calculated
minimum error was only 0.9%. As far as any other location is
concerned, it is observed that the discrepancy for temperature is a
little higher and obtains its maximum value at the location B2,
approximately 4.1% using the RNG model, which represents the
lower discrepancy among all the applied models. This difference
Fig. 13. Velocity vectors at partition’s height for case B: (a) standard k–e; (b) realizable k–e and (c) RNG k–e.
1677
may be partly due to experimental errors but it may also occur
because of the possibility of air infiltration through the opposite
door (A1, Fig. 2a), considered as outlet in the mathematical model,
due to random direction variations, since B2 was placed next to the
outlet door. That is why the error at location B1, which was placed at
the same vertical direction, was also high. Specifically, it was around
4% using the RNG model, which presents the lower discrepancy
value compared to the other models. Referring to the rest of the
experimental locations, the difference varied from 2% to 4% for all
models, while the ‘‘realizable’’ model was found to lead to slightly
higher differences. The x-velocity discrepancies were higher but
could be considered acceptable because of the inevitable uncer-
tainties during the experiments, due to uncontrolled weather
conditions such as external wind speed and turbulence. Particularly,
the predicted inlet x-velocity (point A2, Fig. 2a) differed from
measurements about 11–12% using the standard and the ‘‘realiz-
able’’ models, respectively, being much lower using the RNG model
(around 2%). On the contrary, the standard k–e model provided a
better solution at B1 and B2 (close to the outlet door) with the
discrepancy being 16% and 9.5%, respectively. However, using the
‘‘realizable’’ model, a better prediction was obtained for the
locations in front of the inlet door (C1, C2, C3), i.e. the discrepancy
at the location C1 was approximately 8% rather than 25% and 18%
using the other two models. Much lower discrepancies can be
observed concerning experimental case B which represents the
afternoon hours. For example, the difference of the computed x-
velocity decreased and it was about the same for all models leading
to an adequate prediction, i.e. the discrepancy at the inlet (A1), B3,
C1 and C2 does not exceed 6%. The same conclusion may be stated
for the temperature prediction with all models performing well
enough, compared to the experimental results.
1678 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681
It is obvious that at the afternoon hours the proposed models
performed better for both velocity and temperature predictions.
This may be due to the omission of heat conduction inside the walls
and of solar radiation. According to the assumptions used, the
imposed boundary conditions at internal wall surfaces were the
experimental results at just one point of each wall, so in reality a
mean value of temperature applied at each wall, rather than a
distribution of temperature (which would be an outcome of the
solution procedure if conduction had been taken into considera-
tion). Furthermore, solar radiation may have a significant impact
on the physical phenomenon, especially during the noon hours,
thus providing a different temperature distribution than that
calculated when this mechanism is neglected. Other errors could
be due to the possibility of air infiltration through small
experimental building cracks and also due to the existence of
small obstacles such as packets used for the equipment storage.
Finally, it may be concluded that all models used for the
numerical simulation are satisfactory, giving qualitatively similar
performance, for both experimental arrangements, while giving
Fig. 14. Experimental case A: (a) velocity magnitude (m/s), (b) temperature distribution (K), (c) iso-relative humidity (%), (d) iso-PMVNV and (e) iso-PPD (%).
also acceptable quantitative predictions in the sense of relative
designs. Due to the existing uncertainties depending on the
constant variation of the external weather conditions, the
proposed approach is considered sufficient enough to represent
natural cross-ventilation.
The distributions of velocity magnitude vectors, obtained by all
models for each case studied, are presented in Figs. 12 and 13. It
can be noticed that all models lead to almost identical internal flow
behaviour and, at least qualitatively, the recirculations occur at the
same place. On the contrary, interesting differences may be
observed for the external flow. The main difference is that the
standard k–e leads to larger vortices downwind of the test chamber
compared to the vortices calculated by the other two models.
Especially the ‘‘realizable’’ model leads to the smallest vortices at
this particular area of the flow. However, since there were no
experimental data at this area, these differences serve just for air
movement evaluation purposes. Furthermore, the area of impor-
tance is mainly the internal flow domain, as indoor air quality
issues are investigated in the present study.
 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681 1679

Fig. 15. Experimental case B: (a) velocity magnitude (m/s), (b) temperature distribution (K), (c) iso-relative humidity (%), (d) iso-PMVNV, (e) iso-PPD (%) and (f) iso-PD (%).

3.2. Thermal comfort study The distributions of local velocity, relative humidity, tempera-
ture, PMVNV and PPD, for both experimental cases, are presented in
Thermal comfort was examined under the experimental Figs. 14 and 15 at the traverse plane of the chamber. Referring to the
conditions which correspond to summer days and consequently experimental case A (Fig. 14), it can be observed that the tem-
to high temperatures. Space restrictions dictate that only results perature difference at all vertical sites that represent occupied zones
obtained by the RNG k–e model are presented, as this model does not exceed 3 8C (threshold value for thermal comfort [24]).
presents the best agreement with experiments especially for
temperature for both cases studied. For example, in case A, the
‘‘realizable’’ model led to the highest temperature differences at all
experimental locations (see Fig. 11b) and thus it leads to under-
prediction of occupant’s thermal perception. The standard k–e
could also be chosen due to similar discrepancies with those of the
RNG. However, because of the better formulation validity of the
latter for flows that include strong streamline curvature and
vortices [37], like in the present one, it has been selected for
presentation. It should be emphasized that thermal comfort could
equally well be studied using the other two models, because of the
flexibility of the computer program developed for the present
work, which calculates thermal comfort parameters, and is
compatible with any available flow distribution. Fig. 16. Temperature variation at the middle of the chamber.
1680 G.M. Stavrakakis et al. / Energy and Buildings 40 (2008) 1666–1681
In Fig. 16, for example, the maximum temperature at the middle
vertical direction of the chamber is 307.1 K, while its minimum
value is 305.8 K, even though the external temperature was 7 8C
above the initial wall temperatures.
As far as relative humidity is concerned, it is observed that the
internal values are higher than the external, due to the
temperature decrease inside the chamber and the small pressure
differences between the calculated local pressure and the external
atmospheric pressure. The PMVNV values reveal an unacceptable
internal thermal environment due to high external temperatures.
Specifically, this factor ranges from a mean value of 1.9 in the bulk
flow to 2.91 near the inlet-door area, representing warm and hot
sensations in the occupied zone, respectively. This is also obvious
using the PPD factor which received high values especially near the
partition (65%) and in front of the inlet door (87%). Consequently, in
case of both doors being open, the reflective insulation applied for
the walls is not enough for the establishment of the desired
thermal comfort conditions, due to the strong thermal load
entering the room by the external hot air masses. In case of
moderate external temperatures, PPD could be minimized due to
sufficient mixing, provided by the non-symmetrical locations of
the openings. The same conclusions are valid for the experimental
case B (Fig. 15). The maximum PPD is calculated 76.1% and is now
observed near the partition (Fig. 15e), rather than near the south
wall as in case A (Fig. 14e). This is due to the change of wind
direction that leads to hot air infiltration through the east door. The
mean value of PPD in the occupied zone is around 62% and 55% for
cases A and B, respectively, corresponding to 38% and 45%
acceptability of the indoor conditions. For both cases, internal
wall temperatures are similar. While the infiltrating air’s
temperature is reduced by 3.4 8C from case A to case B, the
corresponding PPD reduced by approximately 7% in the occupied
zone. Thus, indoor thermal environment was slightly improved
during the afternoon hours (case B) but still remains unacceptable.
This is not surprising as the infiltrating outdoor air enters the
chamber at a vertical incidence angle and thus provides maximum
thermal load. Since the recommended PPD values for an acceptable
indoor environment are below 20% (80% acceptability) [26], the
current indoor environment is prohibitive for both cases studied.
This is also true, using the adaptive model for case B concerning
global thermal comfort assessment. The optimum indoor tem-
perature for thermal comfort is calculated 27.875 8C, using Eq. (20),
by setting the external temperature as the mean value of the
30 min measurements. Thus, the maximum indoor temperature
for 80% acceptability should be 31.375 8C, while the average
temperature predicted by the CFD model is approximately 31.8 8C
(Fig. 15b). This means that indoor environment is again predicted
out of the optimum temperature range. Referring to local thermal
comfort using the adaptive model, the same conclusion is true,
especially near the partition. Due to high temperatures of the
infiltrating air at this area, predicted temperature is at least 1 8C
higher than the optimum one for 80% acceptability. However,
temperature differences at all vertical directions are below the
threshold value, as in case A (see Fig. 16). It is meaningful, for this
case, to investigate also the local PD factor, standing for air
draughts occurring when temperatures are lower than the value of
human thermal neutrality (34 8C) under sedentary activity. It is
observed that, even though the indoor thermal conditions could be
considered unacceptable in terms of thermal perception (PMVNV/
PPD, adaptive), the draught sensation of any occupant remained at
low acceptable values (<20%) [24] in the bulk flow (see Fig. 15f).
This was due to the low indoor velocities, especially in the
recirculation zones, and also to low turbulence intensity. However,
PD can exceed recommended values in front of an inlet door
because of the dominant maximum velocity of the internal
domain, while it can obtain relatively high values near the
partition, due to high velocity gradients that occur there.
4. Conclusions
An experimental method has been developed to determine the
airflow pattern and indoor thermal environment in case of natural
cross-ventilation. Two experimental arrangements were examined
for noon and afternoon hours under hot summer- and moderate
wind-conditions. Furthermore, a mathematical model was devel-
oped and applied to study the indoor environment computation-
ally, using finite-volume techniques and three high-Reynolds
RANS models. Steady-state simulations were performed incorpor-
ating – as stable as possible – measurements for some of the
boundary conditions applied. A sensitivity study was performed
concerning the impact of the terrain’s roughness and also of the
fluctuating recorded wind speeds and incidence angles on the
numerical results. It was found that no significant differences
occurred for flat- and typical-rural’s terrain roughness. A similar
observation is true referring to a 10% fluctuating wind speed and a
15% fluctuating incidence angle. The numerical predictions
obtained by all turbulence models were generally in acceptable
agreement with the experimental measurements; and, thus, they
provide an ‘‘image’’ of the airflow which may represent natural
ventilation as a result of prevailing wind effects. The RNG k–e model
performed relatively better, especially for temperature predictions
and it was chosen and used further for thermal comfort estimation
purposes, under both measured experimental conditions. For this
reason, the extended PMV model was implemented in the CFD model
using the expectancy factor and the reduction of the metabolic rate
according to a linear interpolation technique. The adaptive model for
natural ventilation was also used for additional thermal comfort
estimation purposes. It is concluded that the indoor thermal
environment considered is unsatisfactory in terms of thermal
perception using either model (for case B), as for both cases studied
thermal acceptability was calculated below the recommended 80%,
referring to both local and global assessment. However, due to the
non-symmetrical locations of the openings, natural cross-ventilation
can provide well-mixed conditions, leading to low temperature
differences in the occupied zone and minimize local air draughts,
even in regions close to internal obstacles which may represent
furnishings or any building equipment. Finally, it is concluded that
reliable predictions may be obtained using numerical simulations,
within relatively modest computer resources.
Acknowledgments
This research work was co-funded by the European Social Fund
(75%) and National resources (25%) through the Operational
Program for Educational and Vocational Training II (EPEAEK II)
‘‘Archimedes II’’.
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