CFD Analysis of Convective Heat Transfer Coefficient on External Surfaces of Buildings

Convective heat transfer coefficients for external building surfaces are essential in building energy simulation (BES) to calculate convective heat gains and losses from building facades and roofs to the environment. These coefficients are complex functions of: building geometry, building surroundings, local air flow patterns and temperature differences. A microclimatic analysis in a typical urban configuration, has been carried out using Ansys Fluent Version 14.0, an urban street canyon, with a given H/W ratio, has been considered to simulate a three-dimensional flow field and to calculate the thermal fluid dynamics parameters that characterize the street canyon. In this paper, the convective heat transfer coefficient values on the windward external façade of the canyon and on the windward and leeward inner walls are analyzed and a comparison with values from experimental and numerical correlations is carried out.