A CFD-Based Optimization of Building Configuration for Urban Ventilation Potential

In this paper, we present a performance-based approach to building configuration design to improve the urban ventilation potential at the conceptual design stage, and we demonstrate its application through a case study. The target performance optimized was the ventilation potential of a district, including a region of interest at a spatial scale of hundreds of meters. To estimate this performance, we used computational fluid dynamics (CFD), coupled with an evolutionary algorithm, to optimize the design alternatives to produce the building configuration most suitable for a given set of site conditions. Three calculation components must be assembled for a CFD-based design optimization: an optimizer, a geometry/mesh generator, and a CFD solver. To provide links between the calculation components, we utilized an in-house parametric design program. A case study was conducted to test the applicability of the proposed design method to identify the optimal solutions that minimize adverse effects on the ventilation potential of the surrounding area. For a configuration of buildings in a dense urban area, the proposed design method successfully improved the design alternatives. The results show that the urban ventilation potential in the case of the optimized building configuration is 16% greater than that of the initial building configuration.

[1]  S. Kato,et al.  Study on outdoor thermal environment of apartment block in Shenzhen, China with coupled simulation of convection, radiation and conduction , 2004 .

[2]  R. Ooka,et al.  Study on mitigation measures for outdoor thermal environment on present urban blocks in Tokyo using coupled simulation , 2009 .

[3]  Yun Kyu Yi,et al.  Decision support and design evolution: integrating genetic algorithms, CFD and visualization , 2005 .

[4]  Yoshihide Tominaga,et al.  AIJ guidelines for practical applications of CFD to pedestrian wind environment around buildings , 2008 .

[5]  Krzysztof Grygierek,et al.  Multi-Variable Optimization of Building Thermal Design Using Genetic Algorithms , 2017 .

[6]  J. R. Correia,et al.  A general indirect representation for optimization of generative design systems by genetic algorithms: Application to a shape grammar-based design system , 2013 .

[7]  T. Theodosiou,et al.  Performance Simulation Integrated in Parametric 3D Modeling as a Method for Early Stage Design Optimization—A Review , 2017 .

[8]  Jianlei Niu,et al.  CFD Study of the Thermal Environment around a Human Body: A Review , 2005 .

[9]  Tokihiro Katsui,et al.  CFD‐based multi‐objective optimization method for ship design , 2006 .

[10]  Xiaoyan Dai,et al.  Understanding the Role of Optimized Land Use/Land Cover Components in Mitigating Summertime Intra-Surface Urban Heat Island Effect: A Study on Downtown Shanghai, China , 2020, Energies.

[11]  A. G. Abo-Khalil,et al.  NPC Based Design Optimization for a Net Zero Office Building in Hot Climates with PV Panels as Shading Device , 2018, Energies.

[12]  Vítor Leal,et al.  Building envelope shape design in early stages of the design process: Integrating architectural design systems and energy simulation , 2013 .

[13]  Hiroyuki Kusaka,et al.  Thermal Effects of Urban Canyon Structure on the Nocturnal Heat Island: Numerical Experiment Using a Mesoscale Model Coupled with an Urban Canopy Model , 2004 .

[14]  Kc He,et al.  Decision-making and assessment tool for design and construction of high-rise building drainage systems , 2008 .

[15]  Weimin Wang,et al.  Floor shape optimization for green building design , 2006, Adv. Eng. Informatics.

[16]  B. Givoni,et al.  Urban design factors influencing heat island intensity in high-rise high-density environments of Hong Kong , 2007 .

[17]  Yuan-dong Huang,et al.  Impact of wedge-shaped roofs on airflow and pollutant dispersion inside urban street canyons , 2009 .

[18]  Moncef Krarti,et al.  Genetic-algorithm based approach to optimize building envelope design for residential buildings , 2010 .

[19]  T. Oke.  Street design and urban canopy layer climate , 1988 .

[20]  Mats Sandberg,et al.  Age of air and air exchange efficiency in idealized city models , 2009 .

[21]  H. Andrade,et al.  The cooling effect of green spaces as a contribution to the mitigation of urban heat: A case study i , 2011 .

[22]  Vishal Garg,et al.  Quantifying the direct benefits of cool roofs in an urban setting: Reduced cooling energy use and lowered greenhouse gas emissions , 2012 .

[23]  Yun Kyu Yi,et al.  Site-specific optimal energy form generation based on hierarchical geometry relation , 2012 .

[24]  Shinsuke Kato,et al.  New criteria for assessing local wind environment at pedestrian level based on exceedance probability analysis , 2009 .

[25]  Moncef Krarti,et al.  Design optimization of energy efficient residential buildings in Tunisia , 2012 .

[26]  Moncef Krarti,et al.  Optimization of energy efficiency and thermal comfort measures for residential buildings in Salamanca, Mexico , 2012 .

[27]  Weimin Wang,et al.  Applying multi-objective genetic algorithms in green building design optimization , 2005 .

[28]  M. Letzel,et al.  High resolution urban large-eddy simulation studies from street canyon to neighbourhood scale , 2008 .

[29]  Paolo Maria Congedo,et al.  Envelope Design Optimization by Thermal Modelling of a Building in a Warm Climate , 2017 .

[30]  Shuangcheng Li,et al.  Seasonal and Diurnal Variations in the Relationships between Urban Form and the Urban Heat Island Effect , 2020, Energies.

[31]  Zhiwen Luo,et al.  Passive urban ventilation by combined buoyancy-driven slope flow and wall flow: Parametric CFD studies on idealized city models , 2011 .

[32]  J. Unger,et al.  Detection of ventilation paths using high-resolution roughness parameter mapping in a large urban area , 2009 .

[33]  Ryozo Ooka,et al.  CFD analysis of pollutant dispersion around buildings: Effect of cell geometry , 2009 .

[34]  A. Malkawi,et al.  Optimizing building form for energy performance based on hierarchical geometry relation , 2009 .

[35]  A. Arnfield.  Two decades of urban climate research: a review of turbulence, exchanges of energy and water, and the urban heat island , 2003 .