Airflow Simulation for Informing Environment Design
Apartment Housing in Tropical Climates — AIA Florida Research Award, July 2022. Co-Awardee with Prof. John Sandell, FAU.
The project examines cross-ventilation with the aim of optimizing airflow inside habitable environments. Simulation of airflow patterns within architectural and urban design yields significance in pursuing higher environmental performance and resiliency. For such airflow analysis, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) becomes an accurate method.
This work contributes to the shift in the design process to include building performance simulation early in the design phases, to inform decision making and achieve higher efficiency. It contributes to the discourse on designing with climate by considering local climatic factors as another means to explore the ensemble of architectural elements and spatial relationships in a housing model. As part of the methodology, a prototype framework was developed, starting with modeling the urban built environment, followed by an outdoor airflow analysis of the site conditions and the immediate urban context.
Research conducted in collaboration with Professor John Sandell, FAU.