As the quality of life for humans has improved over recent years, the indoor and outdoor wind environments for apartment complexes has been receiving considerable attention. The wind environment in accordance with apartment types or layouts must be th...
As the quality of life for humans has improved over recent years, the indoor and outdoor wind environments for apartment complexes has been receiving considerable attention. The wind environment in accordance with apartment types or layouts must be thoroughly predicted and corresponding measures set up, even from the planning phase, in order to secure an optimal space for living. Despite such importance of the issue, Korea still lacks comprehensive research on wind environments. Therefore, this study has predicted the wind characteristics according to apartment types and layouts using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The objective of this study is to provide comprehensive information on wind environments necessary during the apartment planning phase. The information provided is limited to wind speed distribution and windless zone, the Murakami wind speed ratio, and pressure distribution of apartment-types.
The summary of the contents of this study is as follows.
1) The analysis of wind environment characteristics according to apartment types showed the highest average wind speed around Case B and the lowest average wind speed around Case E. Analysis of wind environment characteristics in accordance with each apartment layout showed that, when it was northerly wind, the average wind speed was highest at theㄷ-shaped layout and lowest at the ㅁ-shaped layout. In addition, when it was easterly wind, the ㅡ-shaped layout showed the highest average wind speed while ㅁ-shaped layout showed the lowest average wind speed.
2) Concerning windless zones according to apartment types, the zones were the largest in all wind directions at Case D. For windless zones according to apartment layouts, the ㄷ-shaped layout formed the largest windless zone when it was northerly wind; on the other hand, when the wind blew from the east, the ㅁ-shaped layout formed the largest windless zone. The higher the windless zone ratio is within an apartment complex, the higher the possibility is for stagnancy of air or pollutants. Consequently, it is advisable to avoid installing facilities such as food waste or other waste dumpsters in these windless zones. Additionally, a thorough examination is necessary at the planning phase to minimize the windless zones in each apartment complex.
3) Looking at the wind velocity ratio in accordance with each apartment type, Case B showed the largest area with ratio of over 1.5 for all wind directions. For areas with ratio of over 1.1 in accordance with each apartment layout, ㅁ-shaped layout formed the largest area when wind was blowing from the north; ㅡ-shaped layout formed the largest area for easterly wind. The increase in wind velocity within an apartment complex has great impact not only on pedestrian passing but also on overall life within the complex. Consequently, for areas with higher wind velocity ratio of over 1.1, the landscaping should be done in such a way as to cushion the wind so that the wind impact is minimized for pedestrians and buildings within the apartment complex.
4) The pressure difference in accordance with each apartment type showed to be greatest at Case E. Additionally, for pressure differences in accordance with each apartment layout, the apartments that directly face the wind showed all high pressure differences while apartments at the back all showed low pressure differences. For the middle apartments, the pressure differences were different according to the apartment type. For Cases B, C, and D, the pressure difference was over 2 Pa and fair. However, for cases, A, E, the pressure differences were not satisfactory and below 1 Pa. The pressure difference of a building becomes a very important criterion for determining indoor ventilation performances. Consequently, the building layouts within an apartment complex should be planned in various ways during the planning phase.
The comprehensive results from this study reveals that the overall analysis of all wind directions show very different trends than the analysis of each wind direction. Therefore, if one wishes to use the results from this study for a planning phase of an apartment complex, one would have to further consider the main and sub wind directions of the building area and also conduct more detailed examinations in accordance with building types and layouts. Furthermore, measures to minimize impacts of each wind direction will have to be sought. As this study shows, there are multiple cases for wind environments within an apartment complex. Therefore, future research based on this study is recommended which investigates wind environment analysis of more diverse types and layouts.