The Principles of Openings and their Effects on the Natural Ventilation in Residential Buildings in Temperate and Humid Climates of Iran (Sample cases: Kolbadi house in Sari, and Shafahi house in Amol)

The use of non-renewable energies in the past has led to diminished energy resources together with emission of greenhouse gases, and the serious problem of climate changes. Therefore, using an alternative model will have a significant share in reducing energy consumption, and more importantly, improving the quality of life. The improvement in indoor air quality and subsequent indoor thermal comfort using natural ventilation relies on such factors as air flow, indoor and outdoor temperatures, surrounding buildings, and most importantly, proportions of openings. Among these factors, opening and its design can be best controlled.

In the present article, the ventilations in Kolbadi house-Sari and Shafahi house-Amol (both belonging to the Qajar period) are analyzed in Fluent using CFD method.

According to the results, there is a direct relationship between the volume of ventilation space (space configuration) and position of openings, and configuration and proportion of inlet opening to outlet opening has a direct effect on the behavior of air flow in natural cross ventilation, and can affect air flow velocity for better ventilation. In case of openings that play the role of ventilation, it is better to enlarge the inlet instead of minifying the outlets to improve the efficiency of the ventilation.

In the software analyzes, the results were identical for almost all areas examined. The analyses confirmed the increased airflow rate by a "2-fold" ratio of the opening area of the inlet to the outlet with similar results.  Therefore, in Cs climate of Iran, the relationship of climate with indigenous architecture, the need for natural air flow and physical specifications of opening for human comfort can be observed.