This research study started in Fall 2022 and is set in Karachi to explore natural ventilation design to harness the sea breeze that is experienced all year round in the city. It is relevant on two accounts. Firstly, it responds to Karachi’s vulnerability to the climate crisis and the economic and energy crisis being faced in Pakistan at large. Secondly, it addresses issues related to constricted wind flow, at the building and neighborhood scales, which can lead to an increase in the urban heat effect in the city. The focus is to use quantitative data as part of design thinking to explore design solutions for problematic natural ventilation in existing built structures. The study entails three parts–devising a data gathering methodology for wind behavior, gathering literature/case studies on the role of architectural elements in manipulating wind behavior and testing out the effectiveness of solutions.
The objective of the first stage of the study is to devise a high accuracy and low-cost methodology. It explores Computational Fluid Dynamics as a methodology to simulate wind-flow patterns at the neighborhood and building scales to conduct tests of House A, located in DHA, Karachi. The current stage of the study is focused on verification and validation of the CFD process which will determine its accuracy. The CFD process uses data recorded between 2007 to 2021 by the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi. To validate the accuracy of the simulated numerical data it will be compared with experimental/field data gathered by a weather station set up on the roof of House A. A minimum of 6 months of field/experimental data at 10 minute, 30 minutes or 01 hr interval is required for this. The data gathering started in October 2023 and currently collation and analysis are in order.
The following are two visualizations of the CFD simulation that was conducted.
