[Bldg-sim] get a wind tunnel? really?

[Dave Bosworth]

Hello -

I'm currently looking at building user interfaces to aid in natural ventilation studies using energy plus.  In order to use an airflow network you need to input the air pressure coefficients for exterior surfaces at specified wind direction angles.

Sources like the EnergyPlus engineering ref and ASHRAE fundamentals suggest that for non-rectangular buildings either CFD analysis or wind tunnel results are required.  They are simultaneously skeptical of CFD results.  I have to assume that most people don't have a wind tunnel in their office.

When you have non-rectangular building - where do experienced people go for wind pressure coefficients if you don't have a wind tunnel?  Is there a readily available, reasonably easy to use, and reasonably reliable CFD source that you would recommend?  Other sources that don't require massive computation time?  Tables?  Charts?  Databases?

thanks in advance,

dave


David Bosworth
Research Assistant
Cornell University
Program in Computer Graphics
Ithaca New York