When it comes to designing a building, there are few places left in the world that are not influenced or governed by environmental impact. The old rules are no longer acceptable. Buildings are being designed, built and retrofitted according to a new set of values. UpfrontCFD editor Bob Cramblitt looks at the role of CFD in sustainability.
Underfloor air distribution (UFAD) is becoming a popular alternative to traditional ventilation systems, improving air quality and thermal comfort while reducing energy consumption.
In the U.S., LEED and Energy Star are frequently specified by clients, and BREEAM, NABERS and CBA Green Mark, among others, are prevalent internationally. Inextricably linked to these standards are digital technologies such as BIM and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) that emphasize sustainability very early in the design process.
A prime example of the impact of CFD can be seen in the LEED points system: More than half of the possible points a building can be awarded go to areas where CFD adds considerable value, including energy and atmosphere, indoor environmental quality, and innovation in design.
At its core, sustainable building design is about ensuring that factors such as aesthetic appeal, occupant comfort, indoor air quality, and safety needs are considered for both the present and the future. CFD informs energy-efficient design and takes advantage of natural resources to significantly improve sustainable development.
Understanding cause and effect
Upfront CFD – defined as using CFD early in the design and engineering process – provides real-world validation and optimization directly from building information modeling (BIM) systems. Architects and engineers are able to understand how design changes can help achieve environmental objectives, meet government certifications, and increase human comfort over the long term, all well before anything is built.
Jonathan den Hartog, AEC application specialist with for Blue Ridge Numerics, cites the following ways upfront CFD can help maximize energy efficiency and maintain air quality:
It enables performance of a new technology or design approach to be studied for effectiveness early in the development stage before significant time investment or design resources are committed. An example: natural ventilation, such as fresh air cooling for datacenters.
It gives architects and engineers a way to demonstrate how a design approach will achieve energy efficiency standards, energy certifications or air quality requirements before construction.
It offers tools for maximizing efficiency of a given design approach, such as varying the thickness of the air layer in a ventilated façade.
It provides tools for making fast, accurate comparisons of thermal comfort and air quality issues for different types of HVAC and structural designs.
CFD for mere mortals
What makes this all possible is the evolution of CFD from highly specialized software requiring years of expertise to software that can be used by designers, architects, engineers and others right out of the box.
“A cultural shift is underway, marked by a high rate of CFD adoption among AEC and MEP firms,” says Parker Wright, AEC segment manager for Blue Ridge Numerics. “It’s driven by a combination of increasingly stringent sustainability requirements, continuing computer hardware advances, and CFD software that is now accessible to mere mortals. Integrating CFD into the design process is helping firms increase agility, differentiate themselves from the competition, mitigate risk, and positively impact the bottom line.”
Architects and engineers sharing
Both architects and engineers can benefit from using CFD in early development stages, according to den Hartog.
“Architects and engineers can leverage existing geometry and share a similar understanding of results and design impacts. Architects may be involved in the very early stages, such as looking at building massing or façade material studies. Engineers might examine performance of somewhat more detailed models and determine, for example, whether or not a ventilation concept is feasible or to characterize wind loads on a structure.”
Diversity of applications
The democratization of CFD goes beyond who can use it and when. The newest generation of CFD software accommodates a wide range of architectural studies, from micro (diffuser) to macro (master planning).
Studying solar gains on facades allows early master planning decisions on building placement and orientation. When combined with wind analysis, firms can more creatively design spaces that are activated and enhanced by the sun and prevailing breezes.
“Thermal comfort, humidity, radiant and solar panels, wind/wake effects, smoke migration, exhaust concentrations, and stack re-entrainment are just some of the applications where CFD is valuable,” says Wright. “It’s extremely effective for any application with flow or thermal design implications.”
Size doesn’t matter
Size – of the project or the firm – doesn’t matter with upfront CFD, according to den Hartog.
“Upfront CFD can be applied to almost any architectural project, ranging from component-level studies to wind/wake studies on the scale of a city block. Similarly, it can be leveraged by large and small firms. Large firms typically have the capacity to have their engineering team apply CFD across a range of different applications. Small-size firms might specialize in a particular application – such as datacenters or clean rooms – and use CFD as a competitive differentiator.”
Wright says that all it takes is one motivated individual to start reaping the rewards of upfront CFD.
“There is a large contingent of consulting companies with three employees or less who are tremendously successful with CFD. Many have more work than they can accept right now because of the sales, marketing and engineering edges this technology provides.”
Large AEC and MEP firms are claiming similar success, using CFD to share results with clients, improve communications, create new green initiatives and compress development time.
Growing hand in hand
Given the compatibilities between sustainability goals and upfront CFD, it’s no surprise that leading vendors such as Blue Ridge Numerics grew by percentages in the upper teens during the past year, despite the weak global economy.
Demand is likely to increase as CFD becomes more widely recognized as a major vehicle for ensuring sustainability, whether defined as energy savings, air quality or human comfort.
As Jason Sambolt of SmithGroup concludes in the interview within the Built Environment issue of UpfrontCFD, the eZine:
“The challenges of creating more environmentally responsible designs will increase and will begin to push the envelope of building design and technologies. Upfront CFD has allowed SmithGroup to confidently implement new technology and ideas.”
###
Read more about sustainability in the built environment in the 26-page eZine UpfrontCFD: The Built Environment Issue, now available for free downloading.
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CFD & sustainability in the built environment
When it comes to designing a building, there are few places left in the world that are not influenced or governed by environmental impact. The old rules are no longer acceptable. Buildings are being designed, built and retrofitted according to a new set of values. UpfrontCFD editor Bob Cramblitt looks at the role of CFD in sustainability.
Underfloor air distribution (UFAD) is becoming a popular alternative to traditional ventilation systems, improving air quality and thermal comfort while reducing energy consumption.
In the U.S., LEED and Energy Star are frequently specified by clients, and BREEAM, NABERS and CBA Green Mark, among others, are prevalent internationally. Inextricably linked to these standards are digital technologies such as BIM and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) that emphasize sustainability very early in the design process.
A prime example of the impact of CFD can be seen in the LEED points system: More than half of the possible points a building can be awarded go to areas where CFD adds considerable value, including energy and atmosphere, indoor environmental quality, and innovation in design.
At its core, sustainable building design is about ensuring that factors such as aesthetic appeal, occupant comfort, indoor air quality, and safety needs are considered for both the present and the future. CFD informs energy-efficient design and takes advantage of natural resources to significantly improve sustainable development.
Understanding cause and effect
Upfront CFD – defined as using CFD early in the design and engineering process – provides real-world validation and optimization directly from building information modeling (BIM) systems. Architects and engineers are able to understand how design changes can help achieve environmental objectives, meet government certifications, and increase human comfort over the long term, all well before anything is built.
Jonathan den Hartog, AEC application specialist with for Blue Ridge Numerics, cites the following ways upfront CFD can help maximize energy efficiency and maintain air quality:
CFD for mere mortals
What makes this all possible is the evolution of CFD from highly specialized software requiring years of expertise to software that can be used by designers, architects, engineers and others right out of the box.
“A cultural shift is underway, marked by a high rate of CFD adoption among AEC and MEP firms,” says Parker Wright, AEC segment manager for Blue Ridge Numerics. “It’s driven by a combination of increasingly stringent sustainability requirements, continuing computer hardware advances, and CFD software that is now accessible to mere mortals. Integrating CFD into the design process is helping firms increase agility, differentiate themselves from the competition, mitigate risk, and positively impact the bottom line.”
Architects and engineers sharing
Both architects and engineers can benefit from using CFD in early development stages, according to den Hartog.
“Architects and engineers can leverage existing geometry and share a similar understanding of results and design impacts. Architects may be involved in the very early stages, such as looking at building massing or façade material studies. Engineers might examine performance of somewhat more detailed models and determine, for example, whether or not a ventilation concept is feasible or to characterize wind loads on a structure.”
Diversity of applications
The democratization of CFD goes beyond who can use it and when. The newest generation of CFD software accommodates a wide range of architectural studies, from micro (diffuser) to macro (master planning).
Studying solar gains on facades allows early master planning decisions on building placement and orientation. When combined with wind analysis, firms can more creatively design spaces that are activated and enhanced by the sun and prevailing breezes.
“Thermal comfort, humidity, radiant and solar panels, wind/wake effects, smoke migration, exhaust concentrations, and stack re-entrainment are just some of the applications where CFD is valuable,” says Wright. “It’s extremely effective for any application with flow or thermal design implications.”
Size doesn’t matter
Size – of the project or the firm – doesn’t matter with upfront CFD, according to den Hartog.
“Upfront CFD can be applied to almost any architectural project, ranging from component-level studies to wind/wake studies on the scale of a city block. Similarly, it can be leveraged by large and small firms. Large firms typically have the capacity to have their engineering team apply CFD across a range of different applications. Small-size firms might specialize in a particular application – such as datacenters or clean rooms – and use CFD as a competitive differentiator.”
Wright says that all it takes is one motivated individual to start reaping the rewards of upfront CFD.
“There is a large contingent of consulting companies with three employees or less who are tremendously successful with CFD. Many have more work than they can accept right now because of the sales, marketing and engineering edges this technology provides.”
Large AEC and MEP firms are claiming similar success, using CFD to share results with clients, improve communications, create new green initiatives and compress development time.
Growing hand in hand
Given the compatibilities between sustainability goals and upfront CFD, it’s no surprise that leading vendors such as Blue Ridge Numerics grew by percentages in the upper teens during the past year, despite the weak global economy.
Demand is likely to increase as CFD becomes more widely recognized as a major vehicle for ensuring sustainability, whether defined as energy savings, air quality or human comfort.
As Jason Sambolt of SmithGroup concludes in the interview within the Built Environment issue of UpfrontCFD, the eZine:
“The challenges of creating more environmentally responsible designs will increase and will begin to push the envelope of building design and technologies. Upfront CFD has allowed SmithGroup to confidently implement new technology and ideas.”
###
Read more about sustainability in the built environment in the 26-page eZine UpfrontCFD: The Built Environment Issue, now available for free downloading.