Empirical study of a wind-induced natural ventilation tower under hot and humid climatic conditions

Stack ventilation and wind-induced ventilation are the two main methods for inducing natural ventilation. Stack ventilation by itself cannot create enough air flow to achieve good indoor air quality for building occupants under hot and humid climatic conditions. The low performance of stack ventilation in hot and humid climate is due to the low temperature differences between indoor and outdoor temperature of a building. On the other hand, the wind-induced ventilation method performance is independent of low temperature difference. Therefore, it has potential use to improve the indoor air quality for buildings in the hot and humid climate. This paper examines the wind-induced natural ventilation tower performs under hot and humid climate. The study reveals that the wind-induced ventilation tower has higher extraction airflow rate comparing to other wind ventilators in the market. Analysis shows the wind-induced natural ventilation tower can produce high air changes per hour (ACH) for indoor building environment in the hot and humid climate. Study results also show the wind-induced ventilation tower's extraction flow rate is 10,000 m(3)/h at external wind velocity of 0.1 m/s. With the same external wind velocity, it produces average of 57 ACH. The results of this study will be useful for designing wind-induced natural ventilation tower in hot and humid climate. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.