[Bldg-sim] CFD w/ Ecotect and Winair4 / NIST FDS

[Shariq_Ali at URSCorp.com]

What does the community think of mechanical / energy engineers running
airflow studies of air movement around and inside buildings using
Autodesk's Ecotect and Winair4 or NIST FDS? (If an individual can get the
programs to play together)
I touched on CFD and FEA in college and remember there is quite a bit to
it, epically when it comes to assumptions and boundary conditions.

Can a mechanical / energy engineer adequately analyze air movement in and
around a building with out training in CFD?
Or do you feel that this is an analysis that is best left for people who do
CFD simulations regularly?

Keep in mind that Ecotect and Winair4 and NIST FDS are limited in their
analysis capabilities, so we can limit the scope of this question to only
analyzing air movement due to wind / pressure in and around a building.
NIST FDS uses LES, I am not certain what Winair4 uses.

Regards,
Shariq

Shariq Ali EIT, LEED AP BD+C
Mechanical Engineer
URS Corporation
1375 Euclid Ave. Suite 600
Cleveland, OH 44115
Direct: 216.622.2276
Fax: 216.622.2428

                                                                              
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