Optimization of a solar chimney design to enhance natural ventilation in a multi-storey office building

Natural ventilation of buildings can be achieved with solar-driven, buoyancy-induced airflow through a solar chimney channel. Research on solar chimneys has covered a wide range of topics, yet study of the integration in multi-storey buildings has been performed in few numerical studies, where steady-state conditions were assumed. In practice, if the solar chimney is to be used in an actual building, dynamic performance simulations would be required for the specific building design and limate. This study explores the applicability of a solar chimney in a prototype multi-storey office building in the Netherlands. Sensitivity analysis and optimization of the design will be performed via dynamic performance simulations in ESP-r. The obustness of the optimized design will be tested at the final stage, against e.g. windows’ opening by users. This is an ongoing project; calibration of the solar himney model and preliminary sensitivity analysis results are presented here.