Thermal Comfort Study Using CFD Analysis in Residential House with Mechanical Ventilation System

Natural and Mechanical Ventilation Concepts for Indoor Comfort and Well-Being with a Sustainable Design Perspective: A Systematic Review

“…Improvement of thermal comfort or temperature control conditions when using MV or HV, especially when hotter or colder outdoor conditions are present [87][88][89][90][91][92][93] Good or better performance of NV in terms of thermal comfort [94,95] Thermal comfort is one of the main drivers of occupants' behavior associated with NV, with the air change rate and windows opening being dependent on outdoor temperature [88,96,97] Necessity of proper design of buildings where NV is planned to be exploited for thermal comfort (architectural elements, windows, openings, orientation, control, etc.) [98][99][100][101] In a Chinese students' dormitory during winter, temperature and humidity decreased to values under 20 • C and 30% after 4 h of night ventilation with ventilation rates of 0.050 m 3 /s and 0.036 m 3 /s, respectively [100] Too low or too high building tightness is associated with condensation risks [96] Too low or too high building tightness is associated with draughts or fluctuating temperature [101] In a temperate continental city of China, humidification was seen as an issue with both NV and MV, and occupants perceived drier conditions with MV [95] In developing countries, comfort range with NV might be larger (14.6-26.3 • C of comfort range found in an Ethiopian case study), allowing to satisfactorily exploit this ventilation technique [94] Thermal comfort, health, and energy savings are the three drivers of ventilation behavior [97] Visual comfort…”

“…MV can allow for reduction in consumption, due to less windows openings [96] MV can allow for reduction in consumption, due to the use of heat recovery (86% reduction found with respect to NV) [87] NV allows for less demand of energy [91,93,95] NV can be exploited with not extreme temperatures or not too high outdoor PM 2.5 concentration [95] Increase in energy consumption up to 20% found with MV in simulative study performed in Mediterranean climate: NV with night cooling suggested for smaller residential buildings, and MV or HV for larger residential or commercial ones [91] NV can allow for large energy savings in developing countries (wide comfort range in a field study in Ethiopia). Further research suggested to confirm this conclusion [94] Thermal comfort, health, and energy savings are the three drivers of ventilation behavior [97] Feasibility, safety, and life cycle costs need to be preliminary analyzed in the design process [91] Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFDs) simulations used or encouraged by a significant amount of studies, in order to study air movement and comfort induced by NV or HV [89,90,98,99]…”

Influence of different heating systems on thermal comfort perception: a dynamic and CFD analysis

“…Several researchers focus their attention on the optimization of thermal comfort perception within residential environments and many of them uses CFD as a powerful tool to predict thermal comfort, as well as to simulate the behavior of screens on glass facades [13]. Concerning thermal comfort, Usman et al [14], propose the CFD analysis of thermal comfort in a house under natural and mechanical ventilation. Results show how PMV values are improved when ceiling fan coil units are used.…”

Natural Ventilation in Low-Cost Housing: An Evaluation by CFD

“…One of the computational tools that have been used in the area of thermal and environmental comfort is CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). Several correlated studies can be found in the literature, such as [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]. Mistriotis et al [12] reported in their research the validity and advantages of the CFD technique as applied to predict pressure distribution and air velocity in greenhouse; however, because the authors used a more simplified mathematical model, no information on the effect of relative humidity was given.…”

“…Mistriotis et al [12] reported in their research the validity and advantages of the CFD technique as applied to predict pressure distribution and air velocity in greenhouse; however, because the authors used a more simplified mathematical model, no information on the effect of relative humidity was given. Usman and Bakar [18] reported the use of CFD in predicting indoor thermal comfort in residential house; the study was validated by comparing predicted and experimental external wall temperature data at different points of the house. Unfortunately, Usman and Bakar [18] did not detail the mathematical model used in the research, highlighting the need for more detailed studies on the subject.…”