AN EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF EXTERNAL LANDSCAPING ELEMENTS ON INDOOR AIRFLOW RATE AND PATTERNS USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS

Abstract

External landscape elements form an integral part of the built environmental design in enhancing both the performance and aesthetic values of buildings. The provision of landscape elements in the design and development of buildings can dampen the movement of air and as such affect air flow rate and patterns within buildings. The study focused on the characteristics of typical residential building in Ghana with climatic data of Accra. This paper is aimed at exploring, in systematic way, and by using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) to model and simulate the effects of external landscaping elements on the internal airflow rates and pattern of buildings. The analysis of the simulated results of landscape elements at varying distances from a building were found to reduce indoor airflow rates by between 10% and 40%. Findings of this study are expected to inform building designers on impacts of external landscaping elements on indoor thermal comfort in relation to airflow rates and patterns, thereby serving as a basis for design decisions.