Prevailing wind

Natural ventilation in residential dwellings is very important for occupants’ health and comfort. Previous studies by the authors have concluded that natural ventilation performance in dwellings can be enhanced by positioning the two groups of window openings (bedroom windows and living room windows) in opposite directions or perpendicular to each other; and/or the use of side-hung windows. However, the buildings selected for those studies were located in an isolated site, for the purpose of focused evaluation of the influence of various configuration parameters and window types.

A group of 2-story detached houses is built next to a river stretching from south to north. There aremore than hundreds of houses, called the riverside townhouses in this study, in the construction site. Acoupled simulation of convection, radiation and conduction is conducted to evaluate the outdoorthermal environment from the viewpoint of building arrangement. According to the real weather data,two different wind directions (SSE and ENE) are examined.