Effect of cross-ventilation channel in classrooms with interior corridor estimated by computational fluid dynamics

Abstract

Natural ventilation can cool down the indoor environment and improve the air quality of buildings without consuming energy. The configuration of an inner corridor with double-sided classrooms is widely used in school buildings because of advantages such as space-saving and compactness. However, the inner doors or windows on the corridor side of these classrooms are often closed due to the dispersion of pollution and noise between classrooms. To introduce more fresh air from the outside, this study proposes a novel design to set up a horizontal airflow channel through the building to provide cross-ventilation for classrooms on both sides. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was verified using experimental data and was employed to predict the airflow rate of the air channel by investigating different, sizes of air channels, wind directions, wind velocities and climate data, to assess the potential of the technology. The implementation of a channel area-to-floor area ratio of 2% (1.8 m²) provided an average increase in the ventilation rate of 215% on an annualized basis when applied and simulated in typical conditions from 10 different cities in China. This technology could be used to improve natural airflow rates in other buildings which use interior corridors in their design.