Prediction of Thermal Performance of Glass Roof Atriums using CFD Modelling

Glass covered or glazed atriums are becoming increasingly popular in public spaces for their aesthetics, quick installation and building energy reduction by taking advantage of natural daylight and heating by greenhouse effect. The estimation of the building load of atrium buildings is complicated due to the various thermal phenomena involved. The study aims to estimate the cooling loads or heat gain of glazed atriums, using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling using an actual semi-open pedestrian walkway between two building blocks. Steady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes modelling approach with the RNG K-epsilon turbulence model, and the Discrete Ordinates (DO) Radiation models were used in the simulation. The temperature and air flow patterns predicted by the CFD simulations are discussed in this paper under various weather conditions. Results predict temperature gains inside the atrium, identify hot and cold spots and predict thermal comfort.