Computer simulation of wind environmental conditions around buildings

Mean wind environmental conditions around buildings necessary for the assessment of pedestrian comfort, dispersion of pollutants, as well as snow and dust transport have been evaluated numerically. Modified Navier-Stokes equations and k-epsilon turbulence models used in the simulation are discretized by the control volume method, The SIMPLE algorithm is applied to fulfill the condition of continuity. A non-uniform staggered grid arrangement containing 235,000 nodes is utilized for the three-dimensional numerical modelling, A typical Montreal location near the downtown campus of Concordia University has been selected as a test case for the computation. Validation of the computed results has been carried out by using data from experiments conducted in the boundary layer wind-tunnel of the Centre for Building Studies at Concordia University. Computed and measured data indicate that the most significant features of the wind environmental conditions around buildings can be predicted with reasonable accuracy. The advantages and drawbacks of computer simulation are discussed in the paper. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.