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Building Simulation 2014, 7(3): 263-275 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-013-0144-5
Research Article | Issue | Published: 17 September 2013

CFD study of the effects of furniture layout on indoor air quality under typical office ventilation schemes

Show Author's Information Ruining Zhuang1,  Xiangdong Li1,  Jiyuan Tu1,2( )
School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University, PO Box 71, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia
Department of Building Science, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, PO Box 1021, Beijing 100084, China
Keywords:
indoor air quality, ventilation effectiveness, furniture layout, breathing zone, office CFD model
Cite this article:
Zhuang R, Li X, Tu J. CFD study of the effects of furniture layout on indoor air quality under typical office ventilation schemes. Building Simulation, 2014, 7(3): 263-275. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-013-0144-5
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Abstract Full text About this article

The relative freshness of indoor air in breathing zone can be measured by ventilation effectiveness. Numerous research articles in literature have investigated ventilation effectiveness under different ventilation schemes, different inlet/outlet positions, and different diffusor types. These researches seem to have a goal to find a solution to optimize ventilation effectiveness through manipulating ventilation system. In reality, however, the occupants of a rented office room have no right to manipulate the ventilation system; instead, they have to accept whatever rented to them. An important issue thus arises: how to improve ventilation effectiveness without changing ventilation system? This paper has built a CFD model about a typical office room, validated it by published experimental data in literature, and then applied it to twelve typical office situations/cases of different furniture layouts under different ventilation schemes. The simulation results of twelve cases show that furniture layout is an important factor in indoor airflow and temperature fields, and the quality of air in breathing zone can be significantly improved by adjusting furniture layout without making any change in ventilation system.


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About this article

CFD study of the effects of furniture layout on indoor air quality under typical office ventilation schemes

Show Author's information Ruining Zhuang1, Xiangdong Li1, Jiyuan Tu1,2( )
School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, RMIT University, PO Box 71, Bundoora, VIC 3083, Australia
Department of Building Science, School of Architecture, Tsinghua University, PO Box 1021, Beijing 100084, China

Abstract

The relative freshness of indoor air in breathing zone can be measured by ventilation effectiveness. Numerous research articles in literature have investigated ventilation effectiveness under different ventilation schemes, different inlet/outlet positions, and different diffusor types. These researches seem to have a goal to find a solution to optimize ventilation effectiveness through manipulating ventilation system. In reality, however, the occupants of a rented office room have no right to manipulate the ventilation system; instead, they have to accept whatever rented to them. An important issue thus arises: how to improve ventilation effectiveness without changing ventilation system? This paper has built a CFD model about a typical office room, validated it by published experimental data in literature, and then applied it to twelve typical office situations/cases of different furniture layouts under different ventilation schemes. The simulation results of twelve cases show that furniture layout is an important factor in indoor airflow and temperature fields, and the quality of air in breathing zone can be significantly improved by adjusting furniture layout without making any change in ventilation system.

Keywords: indoor air quality, ventilation effectiveness, furniture layout, breathing zone, office CFD model

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 22 January 2013
Revised: 30 April 2013
Accepted: 20 May 2013
Published: 17 September 2013
Issue date: June 2014

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013

Acknowledgements

The financial supports provided by the Australian Research Council (project ID LP110100140), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21277080) and RMIT Research Scholarship are gratefully acknowledged.

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