Windcatcher study: Wind Tunnel Tests in Residential Buildings

Abstract

The adoption of natural ventilation to replace mechanical ventilation can contribute to reducing the residential consumption of electrical energy. Among the possible solutions is the use of windcatchers, an ancient architectural solution from the Persian people, for the conditioning of indoor environments, reducing the energy consumption and reaching efficient levels of thermal comfort. Windcatchers applied to the buildings can function through the differences of wind pressure that affect the facade or due to temperature variation: cold air enters through an opening, cooling the interior of the room and pushing hot air out of the building. The development of the work followed the methodological steps: 1) determination of the reduced models, 2) definition of the test parameters, 3) sensor programming and 4) wind tunnel test. The results obtained in the wind tunnel made it possible to evaluate the best windcatcher configuration for each case, aiming to reduce the internal temperature of the environments. In addition, it was possible to conclude that the temperature variation of 0.5 ° C achieved can contribute to the reduction of electricity consumption and, at the same, time preserve or increase the thermal comfort of users.