Thermal Comfort and Energy Efficiency in a Naturally Ventilated Office: CFD, BES and a Field Study

The energy crisis drives the design of the workplace towards passive systems, such as natural ventilation. The design of the ventilation system influences the energy demand of the building and comfort of the user. In order to improve the design, optimise the energy performance, predict and improve users’ comfort, the application of accurate computational modelling and analysis techniques are essential. This study reviews the advances in thermal comfort modelling and energy analysis of the workplace using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Building Energy Simulation (BES). This is followed by a case study of CFD-BES analysis of energy and thermal comfort of a practice example of a naturally ventilated office. This is a three storey building with an open plan layout in the UK and the office area of 3000 m2, including 375 workstations. It was awarded by the British Council for Offices, received an ‘excellent’ BREEAM rating and 10 out of 10 Environmental Performance Indicator (EPI) rating. The office is naturally ventilated with manually and mechanically operated windows and a stack effect through the vents above the atrium. Furthermore, environmental measurements and comfort surveys are applied in the case study buildings