Natural Ventilation Modeling of High Heat Gain Auditoria

Natural ventilation is characterized by low driving pressures leading to the need for large ventilation openings. In addition, natural ventilation systems must remove sufficient heat to ensure thermally comfortable conditions. This is particularly challenging in high heat gain spaces such as raked-seat auditoria where heat gains can be as high as 90W/m2. This presentation talks through the design and CFD modeling of a 500-seat theatre in the UK which harnesses buoyancy-driven displacement ventilation to deliver a comfortable and ‘atmospheric’ performance space. Two modeling techniques are used: traditional Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes and Large Eddy Simulation.