Title: An application of ventilation efficiency concepts to the analysis of building density effects on urban flow and pollutant concentration

Authors: R. Buccolieri; M. Sandberg; S. Di Sabatino

Addresses: Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, University of Salento, Via Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy ' Division of Indoor Environment, Department of Technology and Built Environment, KTH Research School, University of Gävle, SE-80176 Gävle, Sweden ' Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali, University of Salento, Via Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy

Abstract: This paper is devoted to the study of flow and pollutant dispersion within different urban configurations by means of wind tunnel experiments and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. The influence of the building packing density was evaluated in terms of ventilation efficiency. We found that air entering the array through the lateral sides and that leaving through the street roofs increased and the lateral spread of the pollutant released from a ground level line source decreased with increasing packing density. Ventilation efficiency concepts developed for indoor environments appear a promising tool for evaluating the urban air quality as well.

Keywords: wind tunnel experiments; CFD simulation; planar area index; ventilation efficiency; computational fluid dynamics; CFD; pollutant dispersion; dispersion modelling; building density; urban air quality; air pollution.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2011.047339

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2011 Vol.47 No.1/2/3/4, pp.248 - 256

Published online: 30 Apr 2015 *

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