Determination of cooling strategy on a 200m high glazed lift shaft: a CFD approach

CFD modelling was identified as the only tool able to predict accurately the performance of a cooling system for a 200m high glazed building lift shaft located in Brisbane, Australia. A conjugate heat transfer, multiband radiation and moving mesh transient CFD modelling strategy was used to assess and design the most energy efficient environmental control possible for this design. The lift movement within the shaft increased the convective heat transfer by a factor of 5, top-down air distribution and transient CFD modelling analysis reduced by 60% the cooling load compared to a steady state bottom up ventilation model.