Comprehensive modeling of airflow rate through automatic doors for low-rise buildings

Publication date: May 2015
Source:Building and Environment, Volume 87
Author(s): Govinda Mahajan , Heejin Cho , Kevin Shanley , Daeho Kang
Airflow through doors, depending on function, can have a large impact on building energy consumption and occupant comfort, thus reliable and trustworthy estimation of airflow rate is considered to be an important aspect of building energy modeling and simulation. This paper proposes a comprehensive model that can estimate reliable airflow rate through the different types of automatic doors for low-rise buildings in various outdoor environmental conditions. The model proposed in this study incorporates factors such as: airflow pattern around buildings and local terrain, frequency of door openings, pressure difference between indoor and outdoor environment, and variations in local wind velocities. The results from comparison and verification studies show the proposed model can estimate reliable airflow through automatic doors. A case study with a restaurant building is presented in this paper to show how the proposed model can be effectively used to estimate the airflow rate through door openings.