A Method for predicting air infiltration rates for a tall building surrounded by lower structures of uniform height

With the rapidly rising energy costs and a growing need to conserve energy, more and more buildings are being analyzed for energy effectiveness using sophisticated computer programs. One problem inherent in these programs is the lack of an accurate but simple method for estimating air infiltration rate, which is known to be a significant component of the energy consumption. To develop such a method, a computer study of air leakage characteristics was made for tall buildings using surface wind pressure data obtained in a boundary layer wind tunnel. The results for a fully exposed tall building in a suburban area were reported by Shaw and Tamura. This paper presents new data on pressure distributions over the faces of a tall building surrounded by lower structures of uniform height. The building and the surrounding structures are separated from each other by a distance equivalent to that of a street and sidewalks. Equations for predicting air infiltration rate have been derived using basically the same method as in the paper for fully exposed tall buildings. These equations are strictly valid only for a tall building surrounded by lower structures of approximately equal height. They may not be generalized for a tall building partially protected by another tall building unless the buildings are sufficiently far apart.