A method to assess global energy requirements of suburban areas at the neighbourhood scale

in Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Indoor Air Quality, Ventilation and Energy Conservation in buildings (2010, August)

This article presents the method developed to assess existing suburban neighbourhoods in order to improve their energy efficiency. It combines the use of dynamic simulation tools to evaluate energy ... [more ▼]

This article presents the method developed to assess existing suburban neighbourhoods in order to improve their energy efficiency. It combines the use of dynamic simulation tools to evaluate energy requirements for heating and lighting residential buildings, a statistical approach to assess the transport system and a simplified calculation to take also into account public lighting. The method is completed by a life-cycle analysis of buildings. An application is presented concerning the comparison of three typical suburban structures in the Walloon region of Belgium. The influence of parameters which are often underestimated, like distribution of buildings or location, on the global energy performances of suburban fabrics is tested. The results of this exercise are presented and its limits are discussed. [less ▲]

A validation process for CFD use in building physics.

in Proceedings of the 7th conference on Indoor Air Quality, Ventilation and Energy Conservation in buildings (2010)

Due to growing interests in environmental and building energy performance concerns, building physics simulations - and especially Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) – are more and more used. Unfortunately ... [more ▼]

Due to growing interests in environmental and building energy performance concerns, building physics simulations - and especially Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) – are more and more used. Unfortunately, until now, there is no clearly defined method to validate the use of these models by building engineers. This paper describes a validation process of CFD tools dealing with physical phenomena occurring in building physics. The comparison between experimental data and numerical results proves the validity of CFD use and its specific contribution to building physics modelling in comparison with thermal multizonal models. Thanks to this validation process, building engineers can improve their CFD simulations performance and their comprehension of building physics. [less ▲]

Assessing wind comfort in urban planning

in Environment & Planning B : Planning & Design (2010), 37(5), 857-873

There are increasing concerns regarding the quality of urban public spaces. Wind is one important environmental factor that influences pedestrians’ comfort and safety. In modern cities, there are more and ... [more ▼]

There are increasing concerns regarding the quality of urban public spaces. Wind is one important environmental factor that influences pedestrians’ comfort and safety. In modern cities, there are more and more high constructions and complex forms which can involve significant problems of wind discomfort around these buildings. Today, architects and town planners need guidelines and simple design tools to take account of wind in their projects. This paper addresses the progress made towards computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations for assessing wind comfort in urban planning. We validated Fluent software for wind studies in urban environments by comparing our simulations results with wind tunnel tests. This validation shows that wind mean velocities around buildings can be simulated numerically with a very high degree of accuracy. Based on the results of a great number of CFD simulations, we developed a methodology and simple graphical tools to quantify critical wind speeds around buildings. This article should thus help in practice architects and town planners to design our built environment. Moreover, this paper shows how numerical modeling is now a high-performance tool to work out useful guidelines and simple design tools for urban planners. [less ▲]

Steel construction and sustainability

Conference (2009, July 10)

Les principles de l’Eco-conception

Conference (2009, May 15)

Outdoor comfort and Urban design decision-making

Scientific conference (2008, October 29)

Wind quantification in urban environments

in Kenny, Paul; Brophy, Vivienne; Lewis, J.Owen (Eds.) Towards Zero Energy Buildings, Proceedings of the 25th Conference on Passive and Low Energy Architecture (2008)

There is today a real lack of scientific studies and simple design tools to understand wind flows around buildings. This research is based on a great number of CFD (computational fluid dynamics ... [more ▼]

There is today a real lack of scientific studies and simple design tools to understand wind flows around buildings. This research is based on a great number of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations carried out with FLUENT software to evaluate wind comfort at pedestrian level. This paper describes first the wind comfort criteria chosen. It then develops the process used for validating FLUENT software for wind studies in dense urban environments by comparing our simulations results with wind tunnel tests. This validation shows that wind mean velocities around buildings can be simulated numerically with a very high degree of accuracy. Based on the results of our simulations, we developed simple graphical tools to quantify critical wind speeds around buildings. This article should thus help in practice architects and town planners to design our built environment. Moreover, this paper shows how numerical modelling is now a high-performance tool to work out useful guidelines and simple design tools for urban planners. [less ▲]

Concevoir des espaces publics durables

Conference (2007, November 15)

Wind pressure distribution influence on natural ventilation for different incidences and environment densities

in Energy & Buildings (2005), 37

L'éclairage naturel des bâtiments

Book published by Presses universitaires de Louvain - 2ème éd. (2004)

This book describes a methodology and practical ways to design daylighting of buildings, while ensuring occupants' comfort, architectural quality and energy savings. The first edition of this book in 2003 ... [more ▼]

This book describes a methodology and practical ways to design daylighting of buildings, while ensuring occupants' comfort, architectural quality and energy savings. The first edition of this book in 2003 received the prestigious Prize Roberval. [less ▲]