A CFD Study on Enhancing Indoor Air Quality and Thermal Comfort in Zero Energy Buildings Using Traditional Iranian Windcatchers

Windcatchers are one of the ancient traditional Iranian structures used for providing fresh air and thermal comfort. Their unique ability to catch the wind using fluid mechanics principles makes them a suitable solution for modern zero-energy buildings. This study mainly focuses on the design and development of a modern unidirectional windcatcher for future zero-energy buildings. The design evaluations demonstrated that a circular geometry could be a suitable solution for solving the wind direction dependency of the windcatcher. Plus, it was expected that using circular geometry, along with adding properly designed curved baffles, could manage the pressure drop and increase the volume flow rate in the building. The findings show that utilizing this geometry results in a uniform pressure distribution and high air circulation. The results also illustrate that this design could lead to an ۸.۵% increase in fresh air volume flow rate, leading to an increase in the indoor air quality of the building.

کلیدواژه ها:

Zero energy buildings ، Indoor air quality ، Built environment ، Computational Fluid Dynamics ، Thermal Comfort