Search Results (46)

Underground spaces offer significant potential for sustainable urban development, particularly in cold climate regions where surface thermal fluctuations are extreme. However, optimizing the wind–heat environmental performance of such spaces remains insufficiently explored, especially in relation to spatial morphology. This study addresses this gap by investigating how underground spatial configurations influence thermal comfort and ventilation efficiency. Six representative spatial prototypes—fully enclosed, single-side open, double-side open, central atrium, wind tower, and earth kiln—were constructed based on common underground design typologies. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted to evaluate airflow patterns and thermal responses under winter and summer conditions, incorporating relevant geotechnical properties into the boundary setup. The results indicate that deeper burial depths enhance thermal stability, while central atrium and wind tower prototypes offer the most balanced performance in both ventilation and heat regulation. These findings provide valuable design guidance for climate-responsive underground developments and contribute to the interdisciplinary integration of building physics, spatial design, and geotechnical engineering. Full article

While cold regions in China experience harsh winters, their summers also present significant overheating challenges in atrium-style buildings due to excessive solar gain. This study investigates the thermal environment of a non-ventilated atrium educational building located in a cold region of China, with tests conducted throughout the four seasons. The findings indicate that the atrium temperature is 1.7 °C, 1.1 °C, and 1.7 °C lower than that of the inner corridor during spring, autumn, and winter, respectively, but 0.6 °C higher in summer. From 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on summer days, north-facing rooms with horizontal shading are 0.5 °C warmer than those facing south. A retrofit strategy that combines ventilated atrium shading with north-facing vertical shading is proposed, leading to a 0.7 °C reduction in atrium temperature and a 9.4% decrease in summer air conditioning energy consumption. Additionally, this study develops a retrofit framework for existing buildings, encompassing scope definition, diagnostics, strategy formulation, and evaluation to support high-quality renovations. Full article

Open atrium spaces in university libraries have emerged as a prevalent architectural trend. While increasing daylighting through enlarged glazing areas enhances the indoor environment, it simultaneously introduces significant thermal challenges in cold regions where environmental comfort demands lead to higher energy loads. This study investigates the optimization of daylighting–thermal performance balance through a multi-objective parametric approach to address the inherent conflicts between environmental quality and energy efficiency in atrium design. In this paper, we take the library project in the cold region as a practical case, use the measured data to support the simulation experiment, combine the parametric platform and multi-objective coupling optimization algorithm to carry out digital modeling, and explore the dynamic relationship between the atrium light, heat environment, and the value of energy consumption under the influence of a variety of parameters. The experimental results show that the quality and energy efficiency of the atrium light environment are improved after parameter optimization. The energy consumption per unit area (EUI) is reduced by 84.84 kwh/m²–106.83 kwh/m² while the adequate natural illuminance (UDI) is increased by 5.06–27.64%, which confirms the feasibility of the research and development of the building light–heat coupling optimization technology route and program module. This paper aims to explore the quantitative law of design elements on light–heat balance at the early stage of architectural design and to provide a theoretical basis and reference blueprint for improving the comprehensive decision-making ability of architects in sustainable design and realizing integrated and efficient program decision-making. Full article

The rapid urbanization of developing cities has intensified the challenge of maintaining thermal comfort in buildings, particularly in hot–humid climates. This study investigates the impact of floor level on airflow patterns and indoor temperatures in multi-purpose mid-rise buildings in Onitsha, Nigeria, where increasing urban density and frequent power outages necessitate effective passive cooling strategies. Through a mixed-method approach combining empirical measurements, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, and thermal performance analysis, the research examined variations in ventilation rates and temperature distributions across different floor levels of a six-story educational building over an annual cycle, focusing on the hottest (27 February), coldest (28 December), most windy (3 April), and least windy (17 September) days. Results revealed distinct floor-level ventilation patterns: upper floors (fourth–fifth) achieved 39–40 air changes per hour (ACH) during hot periods while maintaining temperatures of 30–35 degrees Celsius (°C); middle floors (second–third) showed moderate ventilation (15–22 ACH) but experienced heat accumulation (35–42 °C); and lower floors reached 20 ACH during windy conditions. Temperature stratification varied from 15 °C between floors across the entire building during peak conditions to 7 °C during windy periods. Stack-driven ventilation in upper floors contributed to temperature reductions of up to 3 °C, while wind-driven ventilation promoted uniform temperature distribution across all levels. These findings informed floor-specific design recommendations: hybrid ventilation systems with automated controls, strategic architectural features including a minimum floor level area of 15% for the central atrium, and comprehensive monitoring systems with six temperature sensors per floor. This study provides evidence-based strategies for optimizing thermal comfort in tropical urban environments, particularly valuable for designing energy-efficient buildings in rapidly developing cities with hot-humid climates. Full article

Under the influence of climate change, extreme heat events are becoming more frequent and intense. Understanding the response mechanisms of public building spaces, such as atriums, during extreme heat events is of great significance for developing effective design strategies to enhance the thermal resilience of buildings. This study investigated the effect of atrium spaces on the thermal resilience of buildings during heatwaves, focusing on their ability to mitigate high temperatures under two states: closed and open. The research monitored the indoor and outdoor temperature and humidity data of the atrium of a university building in Shanghai during a typical heatwave, and used statistical methods to analyze the relationships between the thermal resilience indicators and various environmental parameters, including the indoor and outdoor temperatures and ventilation states, to evaluate the thermal performance of the atrium. The results indicate that the atrium demonstrated robust thermal resilience under both closed and open conditions. In the closed phase, the indoor temperature was, on average, approximately 7 °C lower than the outdoor temperature, with the maximum difference reaching 11 °C, and the peak temperature delay was up to 4 h. In the open phase, despite exhibiting larger thermal fluctuations and an increase in temperature non-uniformity, the thermal resilience index improved significantly, from 0.231 in the closed phase to 0.047. The analytical framework developed in this study shows great potential for understanding the thermal resilience mechanisms of buildings during extreme heat events. Additionally, the data-driven insights are invaluable for informing the design strategies of public building spaces, especially in regions prone to extreme heat. Full article

The success of educational institutions is fundamentally intertwined with the well-being and academic progress of their students. In this context, indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort play a critical role in creating conducive learning environments that support both health and academic performance. This work evaluates six ventilation systems and strategies for enhancing IAQ and thermal comfort, which prevail in educational buildings in the Spanish region of Catalonia. To do so, a multi-criteria analysis is performed based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, considering economic, social, and environmental aspects. Ventilation systems are pairwise compared in terms of six criteria: initial and maintenance cost, classroom air quality, students’ thermal comfort in summer and winter, and energy consumption. Subsequently, weighted combinations of these criteria are established to rank the ventilation systems under five case scenarios. The results indicate that natural ventilation systems, particularly those with atriums and courtyards (N-AAC), offer a balanced solution, achieving satisfactory IAQ and thermal comfort while being more cost-effective and environmentally sustainable in certain contexts. The variation in the best solution across different scenarios demonstrates that the optimal choice is highly context-dependent, influenced by factors such as budget, climate, and infrastructure. This research provides a valuable foundation and methodology for decision-makers in educational institutions, supporting the selection of ventilation systems that maximize sustainability while enhancing students’ comfort and fostering learning environments. Full article

The atrium, as the core space of modern university libraries, is crucial for providing ample natural lighting and creating a comfortable spatial experience. It is also key to achieving the building’s green and low-carbon goals. However, designing the atrium of a university library faces a significant challenge: finding the right balance between ensuring good natural lighting and effectively reducing the energy consumption of the air conditioning system. This study aims to explore this balance and provide architects with various feasible design schemes. Firstly, a parametric typical model of the atrium space was established by researching 36 university libraries. Based on the Grasshopper platform in Rhino, the typical model was simulated for natural lighting and energy consumption, and the Wallacei plugin was used to couple the optimization parameters of the typical model with the optimization target parameters. The multi-objective optimization experiment of the typical model was carried out with the objectives of maximizing spatial daylight autonomy and the percentage of useful daylight illuminance, as well as minimizing air conditioning energy consumption. The experiment generated 2000 optimization solutions, and the analysis of the historical solution set revealed the complex non-linear relationship between optimization parameters and performance indicators. Moreover, three Pareto optimal solutions were selected as representative design schemes, providing valuable references for architects when designing the spatial form of the atrium. Full article

The design of school building typologies, along with the use of advanced glazing systems such as suspended particle devices (SPD), is crucial for determining visual comfort for students. Recent research has focused on integrating SPD in architectural elements such as skylights, clerestories, and windows. In hot desert climates, minimizing window areas, employing shading mechanisms, and utilizing daylighting features such as courtyards and atriums are practical. This study explores the optimization of various architectural components in classroom designs, including Window Wall Ratios (WWR), Skylight Ratios (SR), floor levels, cardinal orientation, and SPD switching states. Using a detailed and comprehensive radiance simulation via Rhino-Grasshopper and Colibri 2.0, we conducted a thorough analysis and optimization of the SPD glazing system across different states on both annual and hourly bases. The results indicate that optimizing SPD transmittance states between 30–40%, maintaining WWRs from 20–40%, and incorporating a large skylight ratio significantly enhances the recommended work plane illuminance (WPI) and the uniformity index (Ui) of the tested typologies. This optimization improves glare control across various building typologies and provides a roadmap for architects aiming to design learning spaces that prioritize visual comfort and overall student well-being. Full article

The integration of the Internet of Things (IoT) and Building Information Modeling (BIM) is progressing. The use of microcontrollers and sensors in buildings is described as a level 3B maturity in the use of BIM. Design companies, contractors and building operators can use IoT solutions to monitor, analyze or manage processes. As a rule, solutions based on original Arduino boards are quite an expensive investment. The aim of this research was to find a low-cost IoT solution for monitoring, analysis and management, and integrate it with a BIM model. In the present study, an inexpensive NodeMCU microcontroller and a temperature and pressure sensor were used to study the thermal comfort of users in a single-family home. During the summer season, analysis of the monitored temperature can contribute to installation (HVAC) or retrofit work (for energy efficiency). The article presents a low-cost solution for studying the thermal comfort of users using a digital twin built-in BIM. Data obtained from sensors can support both the design and management processes. The main contribution of the article enables the design, construction and use of low-cost circuits (15.57 USD) even in small developments (single-family houses, semi-detached houses, terraced houses, atrium buildings). Combining IoT sensor telemetry with BIM (maturity level 3C) is a challenge that organizations will face in the near future. Full article

Heating ventilation and air conditioning systems account for over one-third of building energy usage, especially for public buildings, due to large indoor heat sources and high ventilation and thermal comfort requirements compared to residential buildings. Natural ventilation shows high application potential in public buildings because of its highly efficient ventilation effect and energy-saving potential for indoor heat dissipation. In this paper, a building design is proposed for a science museum with atrium-centered natural ventilation consideration. The floor layout, building orientation, and internal structure are optimized to make full use of natural ventilation for space cooling under local climatic conditions. The natural ventilation model is established through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for airflow evaluation under indoor and outdoor pressure differences. The preliminary results show that such an atrium-centered architectural design could facilitate an average air exchange rate over 2 h⁻¹ via the natural ventilation effect. Moreover, indoor thermal environment simulation results indicate that the exhaust air temperature can be about 5 °C higher than the indoor air mean temperature during the daytime, resulting in about 41.2% air conditioning energy saving ratio due to the free cooling effect of natural ventilation. This work can provide guidance and references for natural ventilation optimization design in public buildings. Full article

At present, the design and planning of teaching and living areas on university campuses are relatively straightforward but encounter problems, such as poor ventilation, low indoor air quality, and poor sound insulation. In this study, the teaching building and living area cluster at the Tianjin University campus were selected as the research objects. We verified the effectiveness of the simulation results before and after renovation through onsite testing. To improve ventilation, an atrium and patio were added to the teaching building, and the ventilation of the renovated building was studied. The indoor thermal environment intelligent control system regulates carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration and humidity in the teaching building and changes the thermal comfort of the teaching building. Limiting vehicle speeds near the teaching building and the living area cluster, using muffling materials and muffling equipment, and increasing greenery to reduce noise were factors we studied, considering whether they had a noise-reduction effect. It was found that the average number of air changes in the overall functional space of the first teaching building reaches 6.49 times/h, and the wind speed in the human activity region is below 1 m/s. When using a thermal environment intelligent control system, the indoor temperature throughout the year was within the thermal comfort range 81% of the time. The maximum noise around the teaching building during the daytime was 51.0 dB, the maximum noise at nighttime was 41.5 dB, and the maximum sound level on the facade of the living area cluster was 53 dB. The average noise-reduction rate was 22.63%, which exceeds the noise-reduction rate given in the above research literature. Full article

The atrium space represents one of the most energy-intensive areas within buildings. This is especially evident in college teaching buildings, where the inclusion of atriums often leads to increased energy consumption, primarily due to enhancements in lighting and thermal comfort. To address this issue, this study investigates atriums in cold regions within college teaching buildings and establishes four distinct atrium models for such buildings through typological abstraction and evolution. This study utilizes the Grasshopper (Ladybug Tools; developed by Robert McNeel & Assoc, Inc. in the United States.) parametric performance simulation platform to simulate daylight comfort and energy consumption within the atriums. Range analysis is subsequently applied to assess the impact of variables on energy consumption, and variables with the least influence are eliminated. Subsequently, the Octopus plug-in is employed to conduct multi-objective optimization for the four atrium types, resulting in the attainment of a Pareto-optimized solution set. Following optimization, the energy efficiency rates for the four atrium types are determined as 10.3%, 17.6%, 37.2%, and 30.5%, respectively, while the daylight comfort rates experience enhancements of 4.4%, 10.4%, 44.7%, and 34%, respectively. This study provides designers with a reference for optimizing design parameters during the early stages. Full article

Carbon-neutral architectural design focuses on rationally utilizing the building’s surroundings to reduce its environmental impact. Resilient ventilation systems, developed according to the thermal comfort requirements of building energy-saving research, have few applications. We studied the Jin-an Shopping Mall in Harbin and established the middle point height (h), middle point horizontal location (d), roof angle (α), and exposure to floor ratio (k) as the morphological parameters of the atrium. Using computational fluid dynamics (CFD), the mean radiant temperature (MRT), and the universal thermal climate index calculations (UTCI), this program was set to switch off air conditioning when the resilient ventilation met the thermal comfort requirement to achieve energy savings. The energy-saving efficiency (U) was calculated based on the energy consumption of the original model, and U could reach 7.34–9.64% according to the simulation and prediction. This study provides methods and a theoretical basis for renovating other commercial complexes to improve comfort and control energy consumption. Full article

Recently, climate governance has entered a new phase of accelerating decarbonization. In order to achieve low-carbon buildings, natural ventilation has been widely used as it requires no fan power. However, there are great challenges for achieving effective natural ventilation in large-space public buildings especially in areas characterized by hot-summer and cold-winter climatic regions, due to empirically unsuitable ambient temperatures and theoretically complex joint effect of wind pressure and thermal buoyancy. Therefore, this numerical study was conducted on the performance of a natural ventilation strategy in a large-space public building in a hot-summer and cold-winter region by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. Simulations were performed by applying FLUENT software for obtaining airflow distributions within and around a typical low-carbon public building. The temperature distribution in the atrium of the building was simulated particularly for analyzing the natural ventilation performance in a large-space area. Results demonstrated that thermal pressure was dominant for the large-space building in the case study. The average indoor airflow velocities on different floors ranged from 0.43 m/s to 0.47 m/s on the windward side which met indoor ventilation requirements. Most areas of wind velocities could meet ventilation requirements. The natural ventilation performance could be improved by increasing the relative height difference between the air inlets and air outlets. These findings could help provide references and solutions for realizing natural ventilation in low-carbon large-space public buildings in hot-summer and cold-winter regions. Full article

Ventilation systems are mainly responsible for maintaining the quality of indoor air. Together with thermal comfort maintenance systems, they create appropriate conditions for living, working, learning, sleeping, etc., depending on the type of building. This explains the high popularity of research in this area. This paper presents a review of articles published in the years 2020–2023, which are indexed in the Scopus database and found with keywords “ventilation” and “thermal comfort” in conjunction with the type of building or predominant activity. Finally, 88 selected works for five types of buildings were discussed, namely offices, schools, hospitals, bedrooms, and atriums. Data on publications are summarized in the tables, taking into account the publishing year, country of origin of the authors, and keywords. In this way, the latest directions in research were presented, and research groups dealing with this subject were highlighted. For each type of building, synthetic conclusions were presented, summarizing the results of the analyzed research. This review paper would be helpful for scientists and practitioners in the field of ventilation in order to organize knowledge and in a short time be up to date with the latest research showing how ventilation affects the quality of use of buildings by their users. Full article