Study the Effect of Air Path Flow on the Design of Inner Spaces Arrangement to Achieving Sustainability

Due to the public awareness on sustainability, architects have increasingly attentive to passive design in achieving indoor air quality (IAQ) and enhance the indoor thermal condition. Air movement is considered one of the most major factors that influences the indoor climate in building designs. Natural ventilation (NV) systems are considered the most energy-efficient and healthy solutions, so it should be considered in the building design and interior spaces arrangement and combined in the design concept. This research aims to improve the natural ventilation of the building design and interior spaces arrangement using the passive flow control systems. The conceptual implementation of natural ventilation strategies and the methodology of the building design in early stages of building design was evaluated. The relationship between building design and the utilities of natural ventilation was predicted, and the optimum interior building shape and arrangement was proposed according to the design guidelines for natural ventilation. The effect of airflow movement throughout the indoor space’s layout arrangement and around the building was studied computationally. The domain of solution was constructed using ANSYS FLUENT, and the k-ω SST was used as a turbulence model. Various wind directions were studied for constant speed according to the wind rose in Cairo, Egypt. The computational results show that the ventilation efficiency and the optimum air flow distribution throughout the building depend mainly on the wind direction. The opening’s location, direction, and dimensions of the doors and windows have a significant effect on the airflow pattern throughout the interior arrangement of the building.