• Wind and Structures
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.531-553
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• 2012

Many tall buildings possess through-building gaps at middle levels of the building elevation. Some of these floors are used as sky gardens, or refuge floors, through which wind can flow with limited blockage. It has been reported in the literature that through-building gaps can be effective in reducing across-wind excitation of tall buildings. This paper systematically examines the effectiveness of two configurations of a through-building gap, at the mid-height of a tall building, in reducing the wind-induced dynamic responses of the building. The two configurations differ in the pattern of through-building opening on the gap floor, one with opening through the central portion of the floor and the other with opening on the perimeter of the floor around a central core. Wind forces and moments on the building models were measured with a high-frequency force balance from which dynamic building responses were computed. The results show that both configurations of a through-building gap are effective in reducing the across-wind excitation with the one with opening around the perimeter of the floor being significantly more effective. Wind pressures were measured on the building faces with electronic pressure scanners to help understand the generation of wind excitation loading. The data suggest that the through-building gap reduces the fluctuating across-wind forces through a disturbance of the coherence and phase-alignment of vortex excitation.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.359-369
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• 2018

A model has been developed to predict natural ventilation in a single zone building with large openings. This study first presents pressure-based equations on natural ventilation, that include the combined effect of wind and thermal buoyancy. Moreover, the concept of neutral pressure level(NPL) is introduced to consider the two-way flow through a large opening. The total pressure differences across the opening and the NPL are calculated, and nonlinear equations are solved to find the zonal pressure to satisfy mass conservation. For this analysis, an iterative technique of successively approximating the zonal pressure is used. The results of applying this study model to several simple cases are as follows. When there is no wind and only the stack effect is caused, a one-way flow occurs in both the top and bottom openings in the case of two openings of equal-area, and a one-way flow occurs in the top opening; however, a two-way flow occurs in the bottom opening in the case of two openings of unequal-area. When there is a wind effect, regardless of whether the outside air temperature is lower or higher than the indoor air temperature, air flows into the room through the bottom opening and out of the room through the top opening. As the wind velocity increases, the wind effect appears to be more influential than the stack effect owing to the temperature difference.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.363-374
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• 2010

Appropriate scaling methods for wind tunnel modelling of building internal pressures induced through a dominant opening were investigated. In particular, model cavity volume distortion and geometric scaling of the opening details were studied. It was found that while model volume distortion may be used to scale down buildings for wind tunnel studies on internal pressure, the implementation of the added volume must be done with care so as not to create two cavity resonance systems. Incorrect scaling of opening details was also found to generate incorrect internal pressure characteristics. Furthermore, the effective air slug or jet was found to be longer when the opening was near a floor or sidewall as evidenced by somewhat lower Helmholtz frequencies. It is also shown that tangential flow excitation of Helmholtz resonance for off-centre openings in normal flow is also possible.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2016.05a
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• pp.79-80
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• 2016

In the event of a fire on the outer walls of an architectural structure, through real scale experiments with the purpose of estimating the Flame Trajectory, the behavior and risks of expanded combustion to an upper architectural compartment of the Fire Plume Ejected from an Opening according to changes in the aspect ratio of the opening were examined. The results showed that the more the heat release rate of the fire source increased, the heat capacity of the Fire Plume Ejected from the Opening also increased, and for the case of heptane when compared with methanol or ethanol, the results showed a trend for a significant amount of unburned gas to remain. The results also showed that the larger the aspect ratio was, the more likely it was for the Flame Trajectory to approach the outer walls and rise up. In each of the experiment conditions, as the flame rose from the lower part of the wall to the upper part of the wall, a steady decrease was shown for the temperature distribution. Also by quantitatively analyzing the amount of unburned gas that remained, a method to estimate the temperature of the Fire Plume Ejected from an Opening for a traverse opening was implemented.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.47-60
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• 2013

A dominant opening in a windward wall, which generates large internal pressures in a building, is a critical structural design criterion. The internal pressure fluctuations are a function of the dominant opening area size, internal volume size and external pressure at the opening. In addition, many buildings have background leakage, which can attenuate internal pressure fluctuations. This study examines internal pressure in buildings for a range of dominant opening areas, internal volume sizes and background porosities. The effects of background porosity are incorporated into the governing equation. The ratio of the background leakage area $A_L$ to dominant opening area $A_W$ is presented in a non-dimensional format through a parameter, ${\phi}_6-A_L/A_W$. Background porosity was found to attenuate the internal pressure fluctuations when ${\phi}_6$ is larger than 0.2. The dominant opening discharge coefficient, ${\kappa}$ was estimated to lie between 0.05 to 0.40 and the effective background porosity discharge coefficient ${\kappa}^{\prime}_L$, was estimated to be between 0.05 to 0.50.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 2014

For a building with a dominant windward wall opening, the wind-induced internal pressure response can be described by a second-order non-linear differential equation. However, there are two ill-defined parameters in the governing equation: the inertial coefficient $C_I$ and the loss coefficient $C_L$. Lack of knowledge of these two parameters restricts the practical use of the governing equation. This study was primarily focused on finding an accurate reference value for $C_I$, and the paper presents a systematic investigation of the factors influencing the inertial coefficient for a wind-tunnel model building including: opening configuration and location, wind speed and direction, approaching flow turbulence, the model material, and the installation method. A numerical model was used to simulate the volume deformation under internal pressure, and to predict the bulk modulus of an experimental model. In considering the structural flexibility, an alternative approach was proposed to ensure accurate internal volume distortions, so that similarity of internal pressure responses between model-scale and full-scale building was maintained. The research showed 0.8 to be a reasonable standard value for the inertial coefficient.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.121-127
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• 2008

This paper investigates the effects of outdoor pressure fluctuations on natural ventilation through an opening on a building envelope. The ventilation airflow rate depends on the magnitude and the period of the pressure fluctuations, the size of the opening relative to the space volume, and the resistance characteristics of the opening. Non-dimensional parameters have been derived, which determine indoor pressure responses due to outdoor pressure fluctuations. The flow regions are categorized into (1) synchronized region, (2) opening resistance region, and (3) transition region depending on the non-dimensional parameter derived. Pressure fluctuations and flow characteristics are investigated numerically using the 4th order Runge-Kutta method.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Planning & Design
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• v.33 no.12
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• pp.29-39
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• 2017

The building skins are important architectural elements in both functional and aesthetical aspects. This study focuses on developing a responsive facade with autonomous opening and closing behaviors in accordance with environmental conditions and user requirements for natural ventilation for the office building. The pneumatic ETFE panels are applied as the skin materials taking advantage of the efficiency of the inflatable skin of lightness, architectural performance and sustainable material properties. The biomimetic design methodology is taken for its innovative and visionary concept for the facade design. The interpretation of the building facade in analogy to natural organisms delivers functional and aesthetic characters. By exploring the structural movements of the plant pores, the facade control is developed to be autonomous by the parameter values. The facade opening and closing configurations are derived through parametric modeling and visualization programming. Through the application of this study, expected results are to improve user comfort and energy efficiency.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.79-93
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• 2017

Wind-induced fluctuating internal pressures in a building with a dominant opening can be described by a second-order non-linear differential equation. However, the accuracy and efficiency of the governing equation in predicting internal pressure fluctuations depend upon two ill-defined parameters: inertial coefficient $C_I$ and loss coefficient $C_L$, since $C_I$ determines the un-damped oscillation frequency of an air slug at the opening, while $C_L$ controls the decay ratio of the fluctuating internal pressure. This study particularly focused on the value of loss coefficient and its influence factors including: opening configuration and location, internal volumes, as well as wind speed and approaching flow turbulence. A simplified formula was presented to predict loss coefficient, therefore an approximate relationship between the standard deviation of internal and external pressures can be estimated using Vickery's approach. The study shows that the loss coefficient governs the peak response of the internal pressure spectrum which, in turn, will directly influence the standard deviation of the fluctuating internal pressure. The approaching flow characteristic and opening location have a remarkable effect on the parameter $C_L$.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Geothermal and Hydrothermal Energy
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.39-52
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• 2023

This study analyzes the energy performance of a elderly care center building and the applicability of a ground source heat pump (GSHP) system through simulation approach. For this purpose, a building information modeling (BIM) program and an energy performance calculation program were used. The impact of the mechanical ventilation system on the energy requirements of the heating and cooling system and the indoor environment was also analyzed, focusing on the change in indoor carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration, which is a representative indicator of the indoor environment (air quality). The simulation results showed that the target building exceeds Level 7 in terms of simulated primary energy consumption or actual energy consumption. In addition, it was analyzed that the target building could not maintain the indoor CO₂ concentration below the standard concentration by natural ventilation through window opening alone. Combining the GSHP system with the mechanical ventilation system (Case B and Case C) can further reduce the overall energy consumption by reducing the amount of outdoor air introduced by opening windows. The cost savings compared to the baseline case are estimated to be 67.3% for Case A, 63.7% for Case B, 65.5% for Case C, and 42.5% for Case D. It is necessary to analyze the impact of various renewable energy technologies and passive ones on the energy performance and indoor environment of elderly care centers.