Airflow pattern and thermal comfort in winter by different combinations of air distribution strategies and window types in an office unit

Achieving favourable indoor comfort is a major concern in architectural design process. Different locations of air supply registers produce different airflow patterns, which cause spatial variations in indoor air temperature and thermal comfort. This paper studied a model private office with a variety of vent locations and window properties. The resulting spatial variations in indoor air temperature and thermal comfort and the related heat transfer through windows were compared. Autodesk® CFD was utilized to model the office space and air conditioning system, as well simulate the airflow in the indoor space. It is found that placing air supply vents under exterior windows effectively achieved uniform air temperature distribution and thermal comfort conditions when low-insulation windows were in use, even though such placement caused more heat losses through those windows. However, in a high-insulation window scenario, the air supply vent locations had only a minor effect on spatial variations in vertical temperature and thermal comfort, and a significant impact on heat loss through the windows. The findings offer insight into thermal comfort and energy issues as they are affected by vent location and building window type. This work also suggests possible ways of optimizing air vent placement and building window design.