Wind around buildings, and the flows inside them.
Flows around buildings and internal building flows, with support at every stage of construction. Planning authorities increasingly ask for quantified wind, comfort and dispersion evidence before consent is granted.
1 · Sector needs with respect to CFD
Urban wind behaviour is site-specific and cannot be read from code tables alone, so the sector needs simulation of the real surroundings — with the terrain, neighbours and wind statistics of the actual location.
| REQUIREMENT | WHAT IT DEMANDS OF THE SIMULATION |
|---|---|
| Pedestrian wind comfort | Wind speeds at entrances, terraces and thoroughfares combined with local wind statistics to give exceedance frequencies, not just single-case velocities. |
| Cladding and structural loads | Peak and mean pressure coefficients on facades, roofs and canopies, particularly for shapes outside code coverage. |
| Interference from neighbours | Channelling, downwash and shielding caused by surrounding buildings, including future consented developments. |
| Pollutant and odour dispersion | Exhaust, plant and traffic emissions re-entering intakes, balconies and neighbouring windows. |
| Internal environment | Natural ventilation potential, atrium stratification and stack effect for the building as it will actually be operated. |
2 · Typical representative cases
Full wind-rose assessment at ground level and on terraces, with mitigation such as screens, canopies and planting tested iteratively.
Pressure coefficient distributions for cladding zones and unusual geometries where code figures do not apply.
Wind and buoyancy-driven ventilation potential through openings, atria and shafts across seasonal conditions.
Dispersion from generator, kitchen and laboratory exhausts, or nearby roads, into intakes and occupied outdoor space.
Wind comfort in seating bowls, pitch ventilation and turf health, plus load on large lightweight roofs.
Vortex shedding, galloping and buffeting risk for decks, towers, masts and long-span elements.
3 · Policy and standards verifiable through CFD
Simulation supports — and in several frameworks explicitly permits — demonstration of compliance. Acceptance criteria and validation evidence are agreed with you and the approving body before the study begins.
| FRAMEWORK | HOW CFD SUPPORTS VERIFICATION |
|---|---|
| EN 1991-1-4 (Eurocode 1) | Wind actions on structures. Permits wind-tunnel testing and appropriate numerical methods where code coefficients do not cover the geometry, with pressure coefficients derived from the study. |
| NEN 8100 | Wind comfort and wind danger criteria. The widely used framework for exceedance-based comfort classification, computed from CFD combined with local meteorological statistics. |
| City of London wind guidelines | Wind microclimate assessment. Typical of planning authorities now requiring quantified pedestrian comfort and safety evidence as a condition of consent. |
| VDI 3783 / COST 732 | Environmental dispersion modelling quality. Best-practice guidance for urban dispersion and for the validation evidence expected alongside CFD results. |
| ASCE 49 | Wind tunnel testing for buildings. Defines simulation-of-atmospheric-flow requirements that a defensible numerical study should also satisfy. |
A complete outsourcing solution: an engineering description of your problem, the geometry or area to analyse and the operating flow conditions are enough to start. All work is carried out by CompFlow personnel at company premises under strict bidirectional non-disclosure agreements, on in-house computing facilities including a 120-core cluster.
Engagement is project-based (predefined deliverables and deadlines) or yearly (a set number of consultancy hours). Related services: CFD Consulting · Code Development · Flow Measurements · 3D Design & Scan · CFD Training · CFD Support.