A Computational Investigation of Window Geometry's Impact on Thermal Comfort in Multi-Storey Buildings

Incorrect sizing of the windows has a significant effect on the thermal comfort of the occupants in a naturally ventilated building. This study attempts to numerically investigate the effect of window geometry in terms of window-to-wall ratio (WWR) on thermal comfort of a naturally ventilated storey building. A three-storey hypothetical model was developed using DesignBuilder software. Predictive Mean Vote (PMV) of each of the floor was numerically determined using DesignBuilder CFD simulation. The effects of the WWR on the thermal comfort in each of the floor were parametrically determined by varying the WWR from 10% to 50% step of 5%. The numerical results show that the thermal comfort was achieved when the WWR range from 20% to 30%, 15% to 25%, and 10% to 25% for the ground floor, first floor, and the second floor respectively. However, the WWR that gave better results for the ground, first, and the second floors were 25%, 20% and 15% respectively because their respective PMV values were closer to the thermal neutrality. Building engineers and designers could find this information helpful during building design decision making.