Review of airflow and transport analysis in building using CFD and network model

This paper reviews computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis and simulation of a network model of airflow and transport scenarios, as well as their coupled simulation. The network model is a tool to describe the whole and macroscopic characteristics of airflow transport in buildings, where airflow is modeled as a network of one‐dimensional flow elements. The flow network model can be solved with comparatively less computational cost; however, all the airflows between nodes should be modeled as one‐dimensional. The airflows and their transports in a room are not one‐dimensional but three‐dimensional. CFD is a convenient tool for analyzing such three‐dimensional flows and transports. The equations are non‐linear, and their solutions are usually obtained numerically. The CFD analysis requires considerable computation resources and computational time. To analyze the whole and macroscopic characteristics of airflows and their transports in buildings including the space distribution features in a certain room, the two simulations should be carried out simultaneously. In this work, the author reviews the conduction of CFD in a room, network simulation in a whole building, and simulation of their coupling. Further, the author's previous works pertaining to this subject are explained. The network model separately evaluating the convective heat transfer coefficient for the each building element and the room air temperature at the vicinity of the each building element.