The standard Smagorinsky subgrid scale model for large eddy simulation can be derived from turbulent eddy viscosity models by assuming that the unresolved scales exhibit a Kolmogorov energy spectrum. The present work provides a general framework for developing eddy viscosity and corresponding subgrid models for flow problems in which Kolmogorov scaling cannot be assumed because additional physical mechanisms strongly modify the turbulence dynamics. Examples of such mechanisms include externally imposed time scales, compressibility, and intermittency. The general formalism is also applied to the turbulent thermal diffusivity. In special cases, this approach yields models that agree with those existing in the literature. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.