Conference Paper

Proceedings of Building Simulation 2019: 16th Conference of IBPSA

Optimized Window Locations of a Single Zone: for Maximizing the Wind-Driven Natural Ventilation Potential

Nari Yoon ², Jung Min Han ¹, Ali Malkawi ^1
1 Harvard Graduate School of Design, United States of America
² Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26868/25222708.2019.210197
Abstract: As building simulation and multifaceted workflow are becoming frequently integrated into architectural design, the need for the interactive building design and simulation is growing. This paper studies the parametrization and the optimization of natural ventilation potential by using a building energy simulation (BES)-integrated design workflow within a surface modeling platform, Rhinoceros (or Rhino for short). Grasshopper is one of the widelyadapted parametric design platforms of Rhino thanks to its ability to connect environmental simulation engines such as EnergyPlus. However, there still exists the lack of connectivity between the parametric design platform and building performance simulation. Particularly for natural ventilation prediction, due to its susceptibility to the surrounding environment, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation is often required. The goal of this study, therefore, is to provide several customized components that read the results from a CFD tool, find an optimal design solution for a problem, and enable the comprehensive workflow within the Rhino environment. To validate the proposed optimization process, two types of simulations are conducted: an interior CFD simulation and a BES-integrated natural ventilation simulation. The former confirms that the optimal solution suggested by the optimization possess the maximum cooling potential and tends to yield better ventilation efficiency. The latter demonstrates the connectivity of the CFD analysis to the parametric design platform.
Keywords: natural ventilation, optimization, object-oriented programming, CFD
Pages: 578 - 584
Paper: