Thermal comfort in naturally ventilated classrooms: application of coupled simulation models

This paper presents a novel simulation system which couples a computational fluid dynamics program with a model of human thermal comfort and thermo-regulation. The coupled system is used to predict the performance of a buoyancy-driven natural ventilation strategy for a typical school classroom in the UK. Results of the coupled system are compared with uncoupled (CFD alone) approaches to simulation. These comparisons highlight areas where a coupled modelling approach is likely to be beneficial.