Experimental study on vertical void for improving natural ventilation in midrise double-loaded apartments

Abstract

Affordable apartments in tropical developing countries generally have double-loaded corridors to maximise the total floor areas. Building designs with double-loaded corridors often suffer from poor environmental conditions. Passive design using a vertical void can help improve the natural ventilation in the such building design. This study investigates the effectiveness of vertical voids in enhancing the wind speed in the building. An experimental building with a vertical void, open pilotis, penthouse at rooftop and wind fin on the ground floor to help direct air to the void was constructed in Tegal, Indonesia. Five cases were considered by controlling the window openings, louver openings on the roof and change in fin size at pilotis. Wind speed and direction were recorded at one-second intervals. High wind speed was experienced in the pilotis and void when the wind direction is from the north and the wind speed in the void improved due to the wind fin being placed on the south corridor of the building. The results show the average wind speed in the void is twice as high as compared to the corridors. The building design performed best with high wind speeds in the void and corridores when all windows were kept open.