SE-14-C054 -- Wind-driven Airflow through Building Openings: Preliminary Experimental Results using Particle Image Velocimetry PDF

Today's low energy and sustainable buildings often call for innovative designs involving strategies such as natural ventilation. However,natural ventilation airflow is often difficult to estimate, mostly due to the unsteadiness of the wind. This study investigates wind-driven naturalventilation experimentally by using particle image velocimetry (PIV) conducted in a boundary layer wind tunnel using a glass building analoguewith modeled openings. Using the PIV technique, both the outdoor wind flow and the resulting indoor through flow were visualized and measured.By varying the opening sizes in the glass model and the incident angle of the approaching wind, the airflow behavior around the openings wasinvestigated. The experimental results provide a novel representation of the airflow characteristics for wind-driven airflow through a building, andthe results are expected to aid designers in estimating wind-driven ventilation rate in buildings.