Thermal comfort analysis in an educational building in a hot climate area using CFD

This study uses CFD simulations to optimize the indoor thermal environment in a computer lab at a civil engineering department in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, characterized by a hot semi-arid climate by evaluating different roof and HVAC configurations using CFD simulations and to examine the thermal comfort and indoor air quality. The goal of the study is to comprehend how various roof materials and air conditioning affect the temperature, air dispersion, and thermal comfort of the room. Autodesk REVIT was used to construct three scenarios, while Autodesk CFD and ANSYS FLUENT were used for analysis. The findings of the study provide the use of gypsum-board roofing combined with active cooling for optimizing thermal performance for the design of educational facilities, since they emphasize how important air conditioning and material choices are to attaining the best possible thermal comfort. Scenario III (active cooling + gypsum roof) showed a 24% temperature drop compared to Scenario I (reinforced cement concrete roof), and 15% better thermal distribution than Scenario II.