Review Paper

Indoor and Built

Environment
Indoor and Built Environment
0(0) 1–13

Simulation analysis and thermal ! The Author(s) 2020

Article reuse guidelines:

comfort assessment of indoor sagepub.com/journals-

permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1420326X20908920
environment of the heritage journals.sagepub.com/home/ibe

building in gate tower

Qunli Zhang1,2, Hongbao Zhai1,2 , Xinchao Zhang1,2

and Fang Liu1

Abstract
The thermal comfort inside heritage buildings in China is mostly achieved with the use of split air
conditioning and radiator heating system. Due to inefficiencies in the design of those systems, the
regulation of air temperature is generally inadequate. To meet the thermal comfort requirements of
the partial significant room, which is the meeting hall area, and to preserve the external walls and
facade, this paper simulates and analyses typical working conditions of air control schemes in the
gate tower and suggests the use of a floor-type fan coil air conditioning system. The results show
that the proposed air distribution system can maintain a temperature of 295 K in the summer, which
meets the thermal comfort requirements of the meeting hall. This method takes into account the
requirement for thermal comfort, as well as the requirements of heritage preservation. Our proposal
contributes to the growing literature, which studies methods of improving the thermal comfort of the
indoor environment of heritage buildings.

Keywords
Heritage building, High-ceiling large space, Temperature field, Computational fluid dynamics
Accepted: 3 February 2020

Introduction
A large number of heritage buildings has been pre-
served well in Beijing. Heritage buildings in Beijing
can be divided into three categories, namely the
Royal Garden, the tower building and the heritage offi-
cial architecture. Those buildings include seven World
Cultural Heritage sites and 128 National Key Cultural
Relics Protection Units.1 Some heritage buildings are
used as museums, offices or private homes.2 Taking the
National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units as an
example, 37.6% of heritage buildings, including muse-
ums, business offices and historic district/private
homes, are closely related to people’s daily activities,
as shown in Table 1.
The air temperature and comfort inside heritage
buildings are mostly constructed by split air condition-
ing and radiator heating system in China. Due to the
low efficiency of radiators in high-ceiling spaces and
the inadequate airflow design of the air conditioning
systems, heritage buildings often face problems, such
as uneven temperature and flow field distribution, poor
indoor thermal comfort and high energy consumption.
Therefore, ameliorating infrastructure and improving
the quality of indoor thermal environment are neces-
sary. In Greece, the Hellenic Ministry of Culture decid-
ed to convert a medieval tower built in 1344 into a
museum.3 One of the objectives of the conversion was
1
Beijing Key Lab of Heating, Gas Supply, Ventilating and Air
Conditioning Engineering, Beijing University of Civil
Engineering and Architecture, Beijing, China
2
Beijing Advanced Innovation Centre for Future Urban Design,
Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture,
Beijing, China
Corresponding author:
Qunli Zhang, Beijing University of Civil Engineering and
Architecture, Beijing 100044, China.
Email: zhangqunli@bucea.edu.cn
2 Indoor and Built Environment 0(0)
Table 1. Existing heritage buildings in Beijing.
Classification Number Proportion (%)
Tourist attraction 78 62.4
Museums 21 16.8
Business offices 15 12.0
Historic district 11 8.8
to ensure acceptable thermal and acoustic comfort con-
ditions; meeting the requirements for modern meeting
halls in the refurbishment of the Palace Museum in
Beijing, China, such as maintaining comfortable,
stable air temperature and humidity. Therefore, a ren-
ovation project began in 2004,4 which in the end
achieved stable temperature and humidity levels by
the use of a relatively quiet floor plenum air supply
system. Regarding thermal comfort, a church near
Bologna, Italy, was renovated so as to function as a
meeting hall. The reconstruction achieved thermal
comfort while preserving the historical and artistic
value of the building.5
One way to improve indoor thermal comfort is the
use of the building’s passive thermal performance.
According to the dynamic energy simulation of
Palazzo Ex-INPS, the most suitable, energy efficient
choice is the replacement of old window glasses with
low emissivity ones, the application of thermal insula-
tion plaster and renewing the thermal insulation of the
roof slab.6 The domed vernacular houses of Harran,
was built mainly by brick and stone, mortared and plas-
tered by mud. This was one of the best examples of
renovation which achieved minimum energy consump-
tion.7 Penang shop houses can be cooler than modern
buildings by regulating the indoor air temperature and
reducing the peak temperature.8 The installation of
internal envelope insulation, cool roof coatings and
window retrofit constitute the best option to improve
the energy efficiency of building envelopes.9
For traditional architecture, the traditional passive
cooling method is to use window openings to regulate
air flow into the indoor thermal environment, thereby
maintaining pleasant climate conditions to ensure the
comfort of residents.10 Traditional Japanese concepts
for comfortable living in the summer include the use of
thermal buoyancy-driven natural ventilation by letting
out warm air through the ceiling.11
However, heritage building preservation ought to
comply with local policies and standards. Any proposal
of retrofitting the envelope must consider the historical
and architectural value of the building, avoid further
destructive interventions in the walls and minimize the
visual impact of renovations. Accordingly, excessive
interference with the envelope was deemed unaccept-
able from a conservation perspective, even if it would
contribute to the solution of a number of energy issues.
Instead, the use of active air conditioning system to
maintain a comfortable indoor environment became
necessary. In addition, heritage buildings require high
indoor aesthetic design standards and the air condi-
tioning system equipment should fit well with the tra-
ditional decoration style.
The Crucifiers complex in Venice, Italy, was refur-
bished to function as a university campus.12 The air
handling units were fitted around the complex, and
each one was installed in the garret of the respective
building. The main piping was embedded in the fur-
nishings installed along the perimeter walls, together
with a large number of fan coils serving these apart-
ments. Secondary piping for rooms was inserted into
new structures, such as internal partitioning walls or
mezzanine floors. The installation of the heating, ven-
tilating and air conditioning system does not affect the
exterior or interior decorative art of the old buildings.
Renovated buildings need to satisfy the partial sig-
nificant room environmental requirements because of
different functional requirements. The concept of con-
trolling the overall indoor environment in order to pre-
serve architectural culture is rather uneconomical. An
air curtain system has been suggested to separate tra-
ditional parts of old buildings from large-space exhibi-
tion halls. Luo et al.13 investigated the geometry and jet
flow parameters to determine in theory their effects on
the efficiency of isolation and the suitability of the
operation mode, respectively.
A method was proposed for microclimate analysis
that deals with artwork preservation and ensures opti-
mum indoor air quality.14 It comprised monitoring and
data analysis with the use of non-invasive equipment
for the preservation of the building’s structure, art-
works and quality of air.
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling is
widely used in the design and application of ventilation
systems.15 Song16 evaluated air temperature and veloc-
ity distributions under heating conditions using a com-
mercial CFD software. Liang et al.17 used CFD
method to simulate indoor airflow in both the
reduced-scale and real-size atrium models with hybrid
ventilation. Under a given heat gain and fresh air
parameters, he obtained an optimal exhaust-supply
air ratio for the minimum cooling load of the air con-
ditioning system in the atrium. In Lecce Cathedral,
scholars used CFD to confirm the lowest temperature
gradients and determine the most appropriate air flow
to preserve the monument.18 The use of CFD has been
very effective in the renovation process as means to
compare effects of different schemes to ensure a com-
fortable thermal environment for building occupants.
This paper suggests a floor-type fan coil air condi-
tioning system to meet the partial significant room
Zhang et al.
thermal comfort requirements and to ensure the exte-
rior preservation of heritage building in Beijing. We
used CFD simulations to analyse the indoor environ-
ment under three typical conditions and suggest ways
to improve the thermal comfort of the indoor environ-
ment of heritage buildings.
Heritage building description
The building we selected for our case-study is a gate
tower (Figure 1) in Beijing, made of wooden enclosures
with sloping roofs, large eaves and wooden pillars in
the interior. The structure is made of wood and the
roof is made of tiles. Wooden columns are evenly dis-
tributed horizontally inside the building. The building’s
envelope has no insulation. It suffers from effects of
high-ceiling large space, poor airtightness and low ther-
mal resistance. The building stands on an elevated posi-
tion 30 m above sea level; with a length of 50 m, a width
of 25 m and a height of 15 m, it covers an area of
1263 m2. Compared with other heritage buildings in
Beijing,19 the gate tower has a larger internal space
and longer history, as it was built in the years of the
Ming Dynasty.
The current air conditioning system used in this
building is shown in Figure 2. Six indoor units are
fitted in the main area and air ducts are installed on
the upper part of the pillars. An investigation found
that this system is not only inefficient and provides
poor thermal comfort, but that it also interferes with
interior decoration.
Figure 1. Appearance of the gate tower.
Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.
3
The gate tower is frequently used as a meeting hall.
Despite its high-ceiling and large spaces, only the meet-
ing hall area needs to meet the design standards of air-
conditioning environments, and the gate tower is not
used every day. So the air conditioning systems must be
taken into consideration to meet indoor thermal comfort
requirements in the partial area and part time. Indeed, a
more suitable air conditioning system is essential.
Air conditioning scheme
Special requirements of air conditioning
The design of a new air conditioning system is neces-
sary to protect the old building and improve thermal
comfort. Given the usage of the building, the air con-
ditioning system does not need to cool the entire area
during the summer. Therefore, the inner space has been
divided according to function. Because the schedule for
the use of the meeting hall is uncertain and flexible, the
air conditioning system must be able to quickly adjust
the indoor thermal environment. In addition, the
equipment cannot interfere with the exterior and inte-
rior decorative art of the building.
To meet the building’s functions, the interior of the
gate tower was divided into two parts, the meeting hall
area and the peripheral area (the plan is shown in
Figure 3). The meeting hall area (defined by the eight
pillars) was divided into smaller areas by folding
screens set between adjacent pillars. To be more spe-
cific, four lateral folding screens (folding screen size:
5 m
1 m
3 m) and three frontal folding screens
4 Indoor and Built Environment 0(0)

Figure 2. The current air conditioning scheme of the gate tower.

Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.

Figure 3. The air conditioning area division of the gate tower.

Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.

(6 m
1 m
4 m) were used to separate the central area
into three smaller spaces.
Air conditioning system
During the summer period, the cooling area is the
meeting hall area, which is separated from the interior
of the gate tower. A comparison of the current air con-
ditioning system and our suggestion is shown in
Table 2. The new air conditioning system we suggested
should focus on thermal comfort, ease of installation
and has a capacity to preserve the building. In the
summer, a floor-type fan coil air conditioning indoor
unit (ultrathin mute fan coil) was installed in the cen-
tral meeting hall, and the condensate and refrigerant
pipes were laid beneath the floor, as shown in Figure 4
(left-hand side). The air conditioning devices were
placed at the bases of folding screens to keep them
out of sight and preserve the traditional decorative
style. The adjustment of the angle of the device grille
will would offer a comfortable thermal experience (the
specific layout is shown on the right-hand side in
Figure 4). Compared with the system currently in use,
the floor-type air conditioning system would be more
reasonably arranged and preserves the traditional ele-
ments of the building much more efficiently. Moreover,
the new air conditioning system would occupy less
space than the current one.
Radiators were selected for heating in winter. Their
layout is consistent with the style and decoration of the
building. Natural ventilation would be used during the
transitional seasons to maintain a comfortable environ-
ment indoors.
Modelling
Construction parameters
We investigated the performance of the new floor-type
air conditioning system and radiator heating system
Zhang et al. 5

Table 2. Comparison of proposed and current air conditioning schemes in the summer period.

Proposed scheme Current scheme

System form Floor-type air conditioning system All-air air conditioning system
Cooling area 125.05 m2 1263.29 m2
Equipment Indoor unit combined with folding screens Air duct; air-conditioning air-supply
columns
Pipeline Air-conditioning condensate duct and Air duct
refrigerant duct
Indoor thermal and Higher thermal comfort standard Basic humiture standard
humid environment
Operability of scheme Simple and convenient construction Complex construction
Appearance effect Little effect on decoration Seriously impacts the decoration style

Figure 4. Floor-type air conditioning system.

Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.

with the use of CFD simulations (the two models used
for CFD simulations are shown in Figure 5).
During the summer period, as these folding screens
would limit the area that needs to be kept cool, we
focused our model on the meeting hall area. The
model is 22.5 m long, 9.1 m wide and 5.0 m tall, as
shown in Figure 5(b) (meeting hall area). We simplified
the representation of the suspended ceiling, because it is
not a crucial factor and has little effect on airflow
organization.
For the purpose of simulating radiator heating
and natural ventilation, we added peripheral areas
in our spatial calculations. This model is 50.3 m
long, 25.1 m wide and 15.0 m tall, as shown in
Figure 5(a) (interior area of the gate tower). The size
of the middle gate is 6.0 m
4.0 m and the size of the
side doors on both sides is 4.0 m
4.0 m. The dimen-
sions of the large windows are 1.0 m
1.0 m and
those of the small windows are 0.5 m
1.0 m.
The door is on the south side and the window is on
the north side.
Because personnel activities take place within a lim-
ited area, we focus only on the area within 5 m.
The area in office area (0–2 m tall) has large air flow
disturbance and a dense grid, and the remaining area
has a relatively sparse grid. We selected a renormaliza-
tion group k-e two-equation turbulence model
according to the CFD software.20 We assumed a
standard-wall function for the area near the wall sur-
face and we used the SIMPLE algorithm for speed–
pressure coupling.21
Simplified hypothesis
The air flow in a mechanical ventilation room is
unsteady turbulent flow. We made the following
assumptions and simplifications to the physical
model22:
1. The indoor air is a low-speed, incompressible gas,
which conforms to the Boussinesq assumption;
2. The indoor air flow is a quasi-steady turbulent flow;
6 Indoor and Built Environment 0(0)

Figure 5. Physical model of the gate tower interior space. (a) Interior area of the gate tower and (b) meeting hall area.
Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.

3. The energy dissipation caused by the viscosity of
air is negligible for the purposes of the energy
equation;
4. Because the temperatures of the wall surfaces are
similar, radiative heat transfer between solid wall
surfaces is negligible;
5. The air flow at the air outlet has equal flow rate;
6. The load incurred by human is negligible.
Governing equations and boundary
conditions
The divergence form of the fluid mass conservation
equation is expressed as in equation (1) in terms of
the liquid density, q, the liquid velocity ~
u
@q
þ divðq~
uÞ
@t
boundary conditions for the air conditioning system
are shown in Table 3.
Mesh generation
The meshing method could significantly affect the accu-
racy of calculations. Dense meshing is required in areas
where the air parameter varies greatly, such as at the
corners of the building. Excessive fine meshes are not
necessary when the air parameters change less, as they
would increase the amount of calculation with little ben-
efit in the accuracy. The numerical model of the total
interior area of the gate tower contains 2,099,801 grids,
and the numerical model of the meeting hall area con-
tains 1,756,546. A study of grid independence showed
that the results were accurate and efficient.
(1)
Results

The law of conservation of energy is expressed as in Cooling conditions in summer

equation (2) in terms of the three velocity components, This study simulated the temperature and flow field,
ux , uy and uz , the mass force, ~
f, the viscous stress, sij , cooled by floor-type air conditioning system in the
the heat flux q meeting hall area. The floor-type air outlet is fitted at

"
# "
 #



@ u2 u2 @ @t @ @T @ @T @ðux pÞ @ðuy pÞ @ðuz pÞ
q eþ þD q eþ ~
u ¼ pq þ K þ K þ K
@t 2 2 @t @x @y @y @z @z @x @y @z
(2)
@ðux sxx Þ @ðux syx Þ @ðux szx Þ @ðuy sxy Þ @ðuy syy Þ @ðuy szy Þ @ðuz sxz Þ @ðuz syz Þ @ðux szz Þ
þ þ þ þ þ þ þ þ þ þ q~
f ~
u
@x @y @z @x @y @z @x @y @z

According to the design specifications in Beijing, the
outdoor temperature for air conditioning in the
summer is 306.8 K; the outdoor temperature for heat-
ing in the winter is 264 K and the outdoor wind velocity
during transitional seasons is 1.9 m/s. The settings of
the bottom of the screens and its angle to the floor is
60 . Simulation results showed that the cooling air can
suffuse each area with moderate air velocity and with-
out strong draught under the set boundary conditions,
as shown in Figure 6.
Zhang et al. 7

Table 3. Boundary conditions for the air conditioning system.

Numerical value
Name Type boundary Numerical value in summer in winter (K)

External wall Isothermal 303 K 278

Inner wall Isothermal 300 K 283
Suspended ceiling Isothermal 301 K 280
Floor Isothermal 300 K 283
Folding screen Isothermal 299 K 283
Supply air outlet Speed inlet 3 m/s, 289 K –
Return air inlet Pressure outlet 0 Pa for relative pressure –
Radiator wall Isothermal – 328

Figure 6. Vector-graph and streamline pattern in the meeting hall area with floor-type air conditioning.
Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.

The air temperature can generally be maintained Heating conditions in winter

at 295 K within a 4.0 m height in the meeting hall
area, which satisfies the requirements for indoor com-
fort. Figure 7 shows the temperature distribution at
various heights. With increasing height, the distance
from the fan coil unit is longer and the temperature
is higher.
A comparison of the temperature fields in the three
seating areas of the meeting hall is shown in Figure 8.
Figure 8 also shows that cooled air enters the seating
areas with moderate velocity. Because of the difference
in cooling area and due to the location of the fan coil,
the temperature at the east and west sides of the meet-
ing hall areas would be slightly higher than that in the
middle meeting hall area.
The air temperature in the meeting hall area is
lower than 295 K. Therefore, the floor-type air condi-
tioning system can operate under higher outdoor tem-
peratures. If needed, the temperature and velocity of
the forced air can be adjusted to raise the air temper-
ature and maintain thermal comfort in the meeting
hall area.
In winter, the calculation range of radiator heating
includes the meeting hall area and the peripheral
area. Simulation results showed that the temperature
achieved by the radiator heating is slightly lower, under
the given conditions listed in Table 3. The air temper-
ature can be maintained at 283 K in the interior of the
building, and the temperature at the local of the folding
screen can be maintained at 285 K (as shown in
Figures 9 and 10).
The heating requirements are difficult to meet
because of the area’s size and the small number of radi-
ators. However, as we mentioned above, style and dec-
oration of heritage buildings must be preserved. Hence,
there is a limit to the number of radiators that can
be installed. Therefore, a floor-type fan coil unit heating
system is more suitable for the meeting hall area
and ensures that the temperature is maintained within
an appropriate range. This would be conducive
to energy conservation and tackle effectively the
problem of uneven temperature distribution in the meet-
ing hall.
8 Indoor and Built Environment 0(0)

Figure 7. Temperature field in the meeting hall area with floor-type air conditioning.
Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.

Figure 8. Temperature field in the meeting hall seating area with floor-type air conditioning.
Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.

Natural ventilation in transitional seasons
Doors as inlets of air. The air velocity field when the
doors are arranged as inlets of air were simulated.
The results showed that the natural ventilation air
speed is comfortably under set conditions. The air
speed can be maintained at 1.2–1.8 m/s within
the height range of the working area (see Figures 11
and 12). Because the total surface of the windows is
smaller than that of the doors, a high-wind-speed
area is formed near the windows.
Windows as inlets of air. If windows are arranged as
natural inlets of air, then doors become outlets of air.
Simulation results showed that the natural ventilation
air speed is lower in the height range of the office area,
in fact less than 0.3 m/s and lower than the required
Zhang et al. 9

Figure 9. Temperature field in the interior area with radiator heating.

Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.

Figure 10. Temperature field in the interior seating area with radiator heating.
Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.

values (see Figures 13 and 14). This low air speed occurs Assessment of thermal comfort
because the high folding screen at the north side diverts
We used the predicted mean vote/predicted percentage
air flow away from the meeting hall area and makes it
of dissatisfied (PMV/PPD) and the standard effective
difficult to meet the comfort requirements.
temperature (SET) index23 to assess the thermal
10 Indoor and Built Environment 0(0)

Figure 11. Temperature field in transitional season when the door is used as a natural wind inlet.
Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.

Figure 12. Tangential velocity field in transitional season when doors are used as a natural air inlet.
Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.

comfort. The calculation results (as in Table 4) showed
that floor-type air conditioning is much more comfort-
able than the current scheme.
According to ISO7730:2005,24 a PMV value between
–0.5 and þ0.5 indicates comfort. The results showed
that the PMV value of the proposed scheme is –0.78
(slightly cold) and that of the existing scheme is 1.20
(slightly warm). The PPD index decreases from 35.25%
in the current system to 17.82% for the proposed new
system. Floor-type air conditioning system ensures sig-
nificant improvement of occupants’ thermal comfort,
especially during summer periods.
Zhang et al. 11

Figure 13. Temperature field in transitional season when windows are used as natural inlets of air.
Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.

Figure 14. Tangential velocity field in transitional season when windows are used as natural inlets of air.
Note: Please refer to the online version of the article to view the figures in colour.

To evaluate thermal comfort, a few more factors
must be taken into consideration. Because the thermal
resistance of formal clothing (usually a requirement for
events and activities appropriate for a meeting hall) is
higher,25 the floor-type air conditioning system can
guarantee a suitable environment, even though the
PMV value does not fall within the required range.
In addition, the PMV value shows that the floor-
type air conditioning system has higher cooling capac-
ity than required. The supply air temperature can be
12 Indoor and Built Environment 0(0)

Table 4. PMV/PPD index results. • In winter, due to the large size and wooden structure
of the building, the radiators inside the building
Floor-type fan
coil system All-air system cannot heat the area properly and the air tempera-
(proposed (existing ture in the meeting hall area is only 283 K.
scheme) scheme) • In the transitional seasons, natural ventilation can
be used to ensure thermal comfort. When the air
Air temperature 295.0 K 301.0 K enters through the door on the south side and exits
Radiation temperature 299.8 K 299.8 K
the window on north side, air temperature and air
Relative humidity 60% 60%
Air velocity 0.25 m/s 0.1 m/s speed would meet the occupants’ thermal comfort
Thermal resistance 0.61 clo 0.61 clo requirements.
Metabolic rate 1.2 met 1.2 met
PMV –0.78 1.20 Authors’ contribution
PPD 17.82% 35.25% Qunli Zhang conducted the numerical simulations and struc-
SET 295.5 K 302.3 K tured this article. Hongbao Zhai analysed the results and
PMV: predicted mean vote; PPD: predicted percentage of dissatisfied; drafted the article. Xinchao Zhang added supplementary sim-
SET: standard effective temperature. ulations and Fang Liu oversaw language editing. All authors
read and approved the final version of the article.
increased to establish a more comfortable indoor envi-
Declaration of conflicting interests
ronment for heritage buildings.
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with
respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
Discussion article.
CFD modelling is widely used in the design and instal-
lation of ventilation systems. The design we proposed Funding
in this study can be used as a starting point for future The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial sup-
research on thermal comfort and air flow simulation in port for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this
similar buildings under different conditions (different article: This study was supported by ‘The Fundamental
purposes, spatial arrangements or heat loads). For Research Funds for Beijing Universities’ (Project No. X18185).
example, in museums, because most of the energy
load required to preserve artefacts is dissipated in the ORCID iD
empty space, a CFD simulation of air distribution may Hongbao Zhai https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1452-6671
be essential in designing energy efficient heating and
cooling systems to preserve the exhibits.
References
1. Beijing Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage
Conclusion Beijing Cultural Relics Protection Units, http://wwj.bei
This paper examined an old gate tower which incorpo- jing.gov.cn/bjww/362771/362778/index.html (accessed 13
November 2019).
rates features typical of modern office and traditional
2. Balocco C and Marmonti E. Optimal and sustainable
wooden buildings, both in China and elsewhere. We
plant refurbishment in historical buildings: a study of
suggested that a floor-type fan coil air conditioning an ancient monastery converted into a showroom in
system would meet the thermal comfort requirements Florence. Sustainability 2013; 5: 1700–1724.
and respect traditional interior and exterior elements. 3. Papadopoulos AM, Avgelis A and Santamouris M.
We used CFD simulations to analyse the indoor envi- Energy study of a medieval tower, restored as a
ronment in winter, summer and transitional seasons. museum. Energy Build 2003; 35: 951–961.
Our conclusions can be summarized as follows: 4. Lang HY, Shi XD and Li XF. Beijing Forbidden City
Meridian Exhibition Hall air conditioning design.
• For the meeting hall area, the floor-type fan coil air Architect J 2005; 7: 26–29.
5. Semprini G, Galli C and Farina S. Reuse of an ancient
conditioning system has the capacity to generally
church: thermal aspect for integrated solutions. Energy
maintain the air temperature at 295 K within a
Proc 2017; 133: 327–335.
height of 4.0 m, a range slightly cooler compared 6. Ascione F, Bianco N, De Masi RF, de’Rossi F and
with the existing all-air air conditioning system. Vanoli GP. Energy retrofit of an educational building
Hence, it improves the thermal environments and in the ancient center of Benevento. Feasibility study of
meets occupants’ comfort requirements in the meet- energy savings and respect of the historical value. Energy
ing hall area. Build 2015; 95: 172–183.
Zhang et al.
7. Başaran T. Thermal analysis of the domed vernacular
houses of Harran, Turkey. Indoor Built Environ 2011;
20: 543–554.
8. Omar NAM and Syed-Fadzil SF. Assessment of passive
thermal performance for a Penang heritage shop house.
Procedia Eng 2011; 20: 203–212.
9. Giombini M and Pinchi EM. Energy functional retrofit-
ting of historic residential buildings: the case study of the
historic center of Perugia. Energy Proc 2015; 82:
1009–1016.
10. Di Turi S and Ruggiero F. Re-interpretation of an
ancient passive cooling strategy: a new system of
wooden lattice openings. Energy Proc 2017; 126:
289–296.
11. Enai M, Aratania N, Kubota K and Ikenaga T. Passive
ventilation by thermal convection in insulated houses
using the thermal concepts of traditional Japanese
houses in summer. Indoor Built Environ 1993; 2: 312–319.
12. Schibuola L, Scarpa M and Tambani C. Innovative tech-
nologies for energy retrofit of historic buildings: an exper-
imental validation. J Cultural Heritage 2018; 30: 147–154.
13. Luo X, Gu Z, Tian W, Xia Y and Ma T. Experimental
study of a local ventilation strategy to protect semi-
exposed relics in a site museum. Energy Build 2018;
159: 558–571.
14. Pisello AL, Castaldo VL, Piselli C and Cotana F.
Coupling artworks preservation constraints with visitors’
environmental satisfaction: results from an indoor micro-
climate assessment procedure in a historical museum
building in central Italy. Indoor Built Environ 2018; 27:
846–869.
15. Cao SJ. Challenges of using CFD simulation for the
design and online control of ventilation systems. Indoor
Built Environ 2019; 28: 3–6.
16. Song KD. Evaluating daylighting and heating designs of
a top-glazed atrium space through physical scale model
13
measurements and CFD analyses. Indoor Built Environ
2007; 16: 121–129.
17. Liang N, Kong Q, Cao Y, Zheng W, Yang Q and Zhang
L. Thermal performance of an atrium with hybrid venti-
lation and cooled air supply. Iop Conf Ser: Earth Environ
Sci 2019; 268: 012088.
18. D’Agostino D, Congedo PM and Cataldo R. Ventilation
control using computational fluid-dynamics (CFD)
modelling for cultural buildings conservation. Procedia
Chem 2013; 08: 83–91.
19. Zhang QZ. Numerical simulation and the comfort analysis
of airflow distribution of the large space building. Master
Thesis. Beijing University of Civil Engineering and
Architecture, Beijing, 2014.
20. Chen XW, Tang Y, Lu JH and Xu GM. Optimization
design and analysis of airflow organization simulation of
super large gymnasiums based on CFD. Ventil Air
Condition 2015; 4: 35–39.
21. Wang J, Liu D, Wu LR and Li C. Simulation study on air
distribution in a large space banquet hall. Build Energy
Environ 2014; 33: 43–47.
22. Tang ZZ, Liu Y, Zhou J and Wang Y. Research on air-
flow organization in high space – research on air condi-
tioning ventilation system in West Hall of Theme
Pavilion of Shanghai World Expo 2010. Chin J Air
Condition Technol 2010; S1: 25–28.
23. Fanger PO. Thermal comfort 2. Florida: Robert E
Krieger Publishing Company, 1982, pp.19–142.
24. BS EN. ISO 7730: 2005: Ergonomics of the thermal envi-
ronment. Analytical determination and interpretation of
thermal comfort using calculation of the PMV and PPD
indices and local thermal comfort criteria. London: BSI,
2005.
25. de Carvalho PM, da Silva MG and Ramos JE. Influence
of weather and indoor climate on clothing of occupants
in naturally ventilated school buildings. Build Environ
2013; 59: 38–46.