An evaluation exercise of a wind pressure distribution model

The wind pressure distribution (WPD) around a building is an important parameter for multi-zone airflow simulation. The input is usually in the form of pressure coefficients (Cp). The values of Cp are traditionally derived based on wind tunnel studies. However, since it is not possible to always conduct wind tunnel tests to obtain the Cp values, alternative approaches have been suggested. One approach involves the use of statistical regression analysis of data obtained from wind tunnel studies. In this paper, Cp values of a shophouse building under investigation are generated using wind tunnel, a WPD model, which is based on the regression analysis of wind tunnel data as well as based on wall averaged values from published data. Using the Cp values obtained from the wind tunnel as the reference, the accuracy of the Cp values generated by the WPD model and the wall averaged values are analysed and discussed. The effects of such accuracy on the computed air flow rates and age of air for the building using a multi-zone network airflow model are also considered.