The assessment of the performance of balconies using computational fluid dynamics

Abstract

This article presents a numerical study of ventilation performance of balconies using computational fluid dynamics. The pressure coefficients distributed on the opposite walls of a five-storey building model, both with and without balconies, were studied under variation of the wind direction, balcony dimensions and building height. The effect of balconies on the capacity for wind-induced natural ventilation is discussed. The numerical results show good agreement with the experiments of Chand et al. They also indicate that a balcony enhances the cross-ventilation of intermediate floors but weakens that of the ground and top floors, by significantly changing the pressure distribution on the windward wall. Finally, the ventilation performance of a balcony is not greatly affected by variations in its size but is slightly weakened as the height of the building increases.

Practical application: This study provides information and guidance in how best to incorporate the use of a balcony in building development at the design stage.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Joint Practice Note No. 1. Green and Innovative Buildings. Building Department, Lands Department and Planning Department, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region 2001.

Papamanolis N. An overview of the balcony’s contribution to the environmental behavior of buildings: The 21st Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture. Eindhoven, The Netherlands, 19-22 September 2004: 1-5.

Prianto E. , Depecker P. Characteristic of airflow as the effect of balcony, opening design and internal division on indoor velocity: a case study of traditional dwelling in urban living quarter in tropical humid region. Energy and Buildings 2002; 34: 401-09.

Prianto E. , Depecker P. Optimization of architectural design elements in tropical humid region with thermal comfort approach. Energy and Buildings 2003; 35: 273-80.

Elmualim AA Effect of damper and heat source on wind catcher natural ventilation performance . Energy and Buildings 2006; 38: 939-48.

Chiang CM , Lai CM , Chou PC , Li YY The influence of an architectural design alternative (transoms) on indoor air environment in conventional kitchens in Taiwan. Building and Environment 2000; 35: 579-85.

Carrilho da Graca G. , Chen Q. , Glicksman LR , Norford LK Simulation of wind-driven ventilative cooling systems for an apartment building in Beijing and Shanghai. Energy and Buildings 2002; 34: 1-11.

Maruta E. , Kanda M. , Sato J. Effects on surface roughness for wind pressure on glass and cladding of buildings . Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics 1998; 74-6: 651-63.

Assimakopoulos VD , Georgakis C. , Santamouris M. Experimental validation of a computational fluid dynamics code to predict the wind speed in street canyons for passive cooling purposes. Solar Energy 2006; 80: 423-34.

10.

Chen Q. Ventilation performance prediction for buildings: a method overview and recent applications. Building and Environment 2009 ; 44: 848-58.

11.

Chen Q. , Lee K. , Mazumdar S. , Poussou S. , Wang L. , Wang M. , Zhang Z. Ventilation performance prediction for buildings: model assessment . Building and Environment 2010; 45: 295-303.

12.

Mak CM , Cheng C. , Niu JL The application of computational fluid dynamics to the assessment of green features in buildings, Part 1: Wing walls. Architectural Science Review 2005; 48(1): 1-14.

13.

Mak CM , Niu JL , Lee CT , Chan KF A numerical simulation of wing walls using computational fluid dynamics . Energy and Buildings 2007; 39: 995-1002.

14.

Niu JL , Tang YM , Mak CM The application of computational fluid dynamics to the assessment of green features in buildings, Part 2: Communal sky gardens. Architectural Science Review 2005; 48: 337-44.

15.

Liu L. , Mak CM The assessment of the performance of a wind catcher system using computational fluid dynamics. Building and Environment 2007 ; 42: 1135-41.

16.

Chand I. , Bhargava PK , Krishak NLV Effect of balconies on ventilation inducing aeromotive force on low-rise buildings . Building and Environment 1998 ; 33(6): 385-96.

17.

Jiang Y. , Alexander D. , Jenkins H. , Arthur R. , Chen Q. Natural ventilation in buildings: measurement in a wind tunnel and numerical simulation with large-eddy simulation. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics 2003; 91: 331-53.

18.

Cheng Y. , Lien FS , Yee E. , Sinclair R. A comparison of large eddy simulations with a standard k-ε Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes model for the prediction of a fully developed turbulent flow over a matrix of cubes. Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics 2003; 91: 1301-28.

19.

Asfour OS , Gadi MB A comparison between CFD and Network models for predicting wind-driven ventilation in buildings. Building and Environment 2007 ; 42: 4079-85.

20.

Yang T. , Wright NG , Etheridge DW , Quinn AD A comparison of CFD and full-scale measurements for analysis of natural ventilation . International Journal of Ventilation 2005 ; 4: 337-48.

21.

Versteeg HK , Malalasekera W. An introduction to computational fluid dynamics: the finite volume method . Harlow: Longman Scientific & Technical, 1995.

22.

FLUENT 6.3 User’s Guide, Fluent Inc., 2006.