flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

3 reasons to apply computational fluid dynamics on your next project

3 reasons to apply computational fluid dynamics on your next project

From right-sizing mechanical systems to understanding the impact of design alternatives, CFD offers a host of benefits for the Building Team. 


By Jason Pfeiffer | February 27, 2014
This CFD model depicts thermal stratification within a conference room to assess
This CFD model depicts thermal stratification within a conference room to assess occupant comfort as an example of how CFD can b

A misperception about computational fluid dynamics is that it is only effective when designing a jet plane, a formula one car, or an outer space rocket. Today, building designers can apply the same basic principles in fluid dynamics tested on these exotic high-flyers to common building airflows. 

Here are three reasons why you might consider CFD for your next building project. 

1. Best guess approach — Although guided by ASHRAE standards, current HVAC specs are usually “best guesses” based on experience with various equipment and designs. Most engineers oversize HVAC units because they just don’t “know” exactly where thermal differentials including cyclic variations, radiant temperature asymmetries, and drafts will happen in an operating building. Using CFD insight, you can right-size HVAC solutions to eliminate redundant equipment and save costs. 

2. BIM modeling is standard  — The widespread adoption of BIM has led to an unprecedented ability to model new designs. Now, engineers and designers routinely run time and light studies, finite element analyses and energy efficiency studies working with the BIM model. The extension of a building model to CFD analysis is not the leap it may have been ten years ago. Now, airflow designers can run through a number of scenarios for ventilation and heating using different strategies inside the actual building model. 

5 benefits of CFD analysis


1. Assess ventilation effectiveness before construction
2. Eliminate equipment redundancy
3. Weigh equipment costs against performance and environmental requirements
4. Substantiate performance claims
5. Locate supply/return for optimal airflow

3. Seeing is believing — CFD analyses produce easy to understand visuals that show the impact of design alternatives, allowing architects to move walls, alter service conduit pathways and change glazing effects—among other things—to improve energy efficiency and occupant comfort. These visuals are crucial in explaining to owners the impact of design changes, airflow strategies and or equipment purchases. When everyone can easily grasp the results of the sophisticated math behind CFD, you can reach agreement more quickly and with a higher level of confidence. 

 

Typically, designers do not have the time, knowledge or technology to perform a CFD analysis. The alternative is to work with outsourced CFD experts to generate the best airflow strategy for your project. The key here is to find the right fit. Make sure your CFD supplier has a demonstrated range of experience with the kind of building you are designing. 

Your CFD partners should recognize precisely how to properly model an environment to reveal key performance insights—thermal stratification and restricted flows, for example. In addition, your CFD consultant should be collaborative—working with the design team to explore options for improvement. 

No matter what kind of project you are designing—a new manufacturing plant, a new residential building or healthcare institution, or a retrofit of a landmark office complex—a proper CFD analysis will save money in initial capital costs and far more over time in building operating and energy costs. As a designer, you can provide your client with a better, less expensive solution. 

About the Author
Jason Pfeiffer is Director CFD Analysis Consulting with IMAGINiT Technologies. He can be reached at jpfeiffer@rand.com.

Related Stories

| Jul 8, 2014

Frank Lloyd Wright's posthumous gas station opens in Buffalo

Eighty-seven years after Frank Lloyd Wright designed an ornamental gas station for the city of Buffalo, the structure has been built and opened to the public—inside an auto museum. 

| Jul 8, 2014

Lost in the Museum: Bjarke Ingels' maze will make you look up and around

The maze, located in the National Building Museum, is a precursor to an exhibit showcasing some of BIG's projects. To navigate the maze, people must look up.

| Jul 7, 2014

5 factors that can affect thermal stress break risk of insulated glass units

The glass type, glass coating, shading patterns, vents, and framing system can impact an IGU’s risk for a thermal break.

| Jul 7, 2014

Team unity pays off for a new hospital in Maine [2014 Building Team Awards]

Extensive use of local contractors, vendors, and laborers brings a Maine hospital project in months ahead of schedule.

| Jul 7, 2014

7 emerging design trends in brick buildings

From wild architectural shapes to unique color blends and pattern arrangements, these projects demonstrate the design possibilities of brick. 

| Jul 7, 2014

A climate-controlled city is Dubai's newest colossal project

To add to Dubai's already impressive portfolio of world's tallest tower and world's largest natural flower garden, Dubai Holding has plans to build the world's largest climate-controlled city.

Sponsored | | Jul 7, 2014

Channel glass illuminates science at the University of San Francisco

The University of San Francisco’s new John Lo Schiavo Center for Science and Innovation brings science to the forefront of academic life. Its glossy, three-story exterior invites students into the facility, and then flows sleekly down into the hillside where below-grade laboratories and classrooms make efficient use of space on the landlocked campus. 

| Jul 7, 2014

How to keep an employee from jumping ship

The secret to keeping your best employees productive and happy isn’t throwing money at them, as studies have continuously shown that money isn’t the top factor in employee happiness. Here are four strategies from leadership coach Kristi Hedges. SPONSORED CONTENT

| Jul 7, 2014

Nothing fixes a bad manager

Companies seem to try everything imaginable to fix their workplaces, says Gallup Chairman and CEO Jim Clifton in a recent blog post, except the only thing that matters: naming the right person manager. SPONSORED CONTENT

| Jul 3, 2014

Gehry edits Canadian skyscraper plan to be 'more Toronto'

After being criticized for the original tower complex, architect Frank Gehry unveils a new design that is more subtle, and "more Toronto."

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Museums

The Tampa Museum of Art will soon undergo a $110 million expansion

In Tampa, Fla., the Tampa Museum of Art will soon undergo a 77,904-sf Centennial Expansion project. The museum plans to reach its $110 million fundraising goal by late 2024 or early 2025 and then break ground. Designed by Weiss/Manfredi, and with construction manager The Beck Group, the expansion will redefine the museum’s surrounding site.



Reconstruction & Renovation

Movement to protect historic buildings raises sharp criticism

While the movement to preserve historic buildings has widespread support, it also has some sharp critics with well-funded opposition groups springing up in recent years. Some opponents are linked to the Stand Together Foundation, founded and bankrolled by the Koch family’s conservative philanthropic organization, according to a column in Governing magazine.

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021