Air comfort around a middle school

Context

A source of pleasure, play and nuisance, as well as risk and degradation, the wind is one of the climatic factors that modifies our activities and qualifies the ambiances of urban development and the comfort of outdoor spaces…

In the design phase of a new urban project, it is often important to know how the wind will behave before and after the work is completed. In particular, this information is needed to :

• assess climatic comfort ;
• anticipate the impact of new buildings on their surroundings;
• identify wind-sensitive areas;
• assess wind energy potential;
• control the quality of urban development.

Objective

The aim of the study was to quantify the impact of local wind fields on the comfort of students at the future college, and to verify the correct placement of a wind turbine to the north of the site.

On the basis of the results obtained, OptiFluides helps the client – promoter, architectural firm or other – to identify possible corrective solutions, as well as to test and validate them numerically.

Simulation and results

OptiFluides uses numerical methods to model air flows in 3 dimensions in the area under study. These methods are quick to implement and less costly than a wind tunnel study. The information obtained at the end of the calculations is complete: wind direction and intensity, turbulence levels, and even air temperature at any point in the calculation domain, without the constraints inherent in measuring equipment.

Using these results, it is possible to identify areas of wind overspeed generating discomfort, and to propose corrective solutions well in advance of the project: moving or rotating a building, adding awnings, deflectors or vegetation in a specific area, identifying preferential zones for positioning play or rest areas… The building designed in this way benefits from optimized comfort right from the start.