E/V Shaft Cooling Method as a Stack Effect Countermeasure in Tall Buildings

Abstract

The higher the building height and the larger the temperature difference between the outdoor and indoor space, the more remarkable is the draft driven by the stack effect in high-rise buildings. Moreover, the stack effect can bring about the deterioration of habitability and the degradation of the performance of the indoor control system in high-rise buildings. In this study, as a measure to attenuate the stack effect, the E/V shaft cooling method was proposed and its performance was compared with the conventional stack effect control method for strengthening the air-tightness of the building using a numerical simulation method. The total decreasing ratios on the stack effect in a building were compared, and the probabilities of the secondary problems were analyzed. The results show that the E/V shaft cooling is very effective to decrease the stack effect in a high-rise building in terms of the reduction performance and application. Moreover, this method does not cause secondary problems, such as stack pressure transition to other walls, unlike the conventional stack effect mitigation method.