[esp-r] Re: atrium modeling

[Jon Hand]

A question about an atrium...
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I have to model a 8 storey building with an atrium going from ground floor
to top floor.This atrium has the staircase which will be connected to
every floor i.e every floor has its entry from the staircase.
How should I go about modeling this in ESP-r? should I use autocad or is
there an easier way to model this in ESP-r? and how should I define the
zones?

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If the building floor plan is essentially the same on each of the 8
levels then you can save lots of time by generating the first
floor geometry and FULLY attributing these zones.  The you could
copy and transform the zones to create the upper floors.  And
with 8 floors the design of the model would need to be carefully
planned so that there was sufficient detail to answer your
performance questions.

Modeling an atrium is an art as well as a science.  The design
of the zones representing the atrium would depend on the
likely flow paths for air.  In general the atrium would be
composed of several zones which would be linked together
via a mass flow network.

Another source of information would be the ESP-r Cookbook
which is available on the ESRU web site.  There is a chapter
discussing mass flow.

To give further comment it would be necessary to see plans
and sections.  Such a model would typically be the work of
an expert practitioner of simulation.  It may be that some
people in the ESP-r community would be interested in a
subcontract to assist you in creating such a model.

While we are on the subject of air flow....there will be an ESP-r
mass flow network workshop in Glasgow after the IBPSA 09
simulation conference.

-Jon Hand