Universiteit Brussel Energy modeling and air flow simulation of an ancient wind catcher in Yazd

Wind catchers (wind towers) are one component of the traditional sustainable buildings with a centralcourtyard in the hot regions of Iran. In this research a most common type of the wind tower – the foursided wind catcherwas evaluated both experimentally and numerically. The tower of the Mortazhouse in the city center of Yazd was equipped with temperature, wind, air velocity and solar sensors.Monitoring took place over a three months winter period. A series of 3D steady CFD simulations wascarried out using OpenFOAM. The airflow pattern through the wind catcher model was simulated topredict and monitor the air flow behavior in the four equipped shafts for prevailing wind directions.Finally the validation of the CFD numerical simulation results with the onsite measurements data isdiscussed. The goal of this research is developing a method of informing the design decision for newwind catchers and the renovation of traditional wind catchers in early design stage using CFDsimulation tools and energy modeling in sustainable buildings.