NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology

09/16/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/17/2025 03:07

Urban-Scale Building Air Change Rate Estimation Using Corrected Wind Speeds and Three-Zone Building Modeling

Published
September 16, 2025

Author(s)

Yasemin Usta, William Dols, Guglielmina Mutani

Abstract

This study presents a scalable, time-efficient methodology for estimating building-specific air change rates by incorporating local urban morphology and wind conditions - addressing the limitations of constant air change rate commonly used in urban energy models. The presented methodology is used to develop a QGIS-based plugin (Quantum Geographic Information System) to automate the integration of aerodynamic parameters-specifically, roughness length (z0)-derived from the Urban Multi-scale Environmental Predictor, with a simplified three-zone lumped-parameter model and multizone airflow simulations using CONTAM. Using a 5 × 5m analysis grid and a 1m resolution 3D built environment model, the plugin calculates façade-specific wind-speed modifiers across 30° directional intervals. These modifiers are then applied in a three-zone CONTAM model to calculate building air change rates with hourly weather conditions. The resulting air change rates were incorporated into an hourly energy consumption model for space heating and validated against measured energy-use from residential buildings in Turin, Italy. Results show that replacing constant air change rates with dynamic, site-specific estimates reduced the Mean Absolute Percentage Error by 11 to 20 %. In particular, the error was reduced from 68 % to 48 % in December and from 49 % to 32 % in January, corresponding to relative error reductions of approximately 30 % and 34 %. The proposed method demonstrates improved accuracy in simulating building energy consumption taking into account the influence of an accurate shape of the urban environment on air change rates; moreover, it offers a robust, automated framework for urban-scale assessments of ventilation, infiltration, and energy performance.
Citation
Energies
Pub Type
Journals

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Keywords

Air Change Rate, Building Infiltration, Urban Roughness, UMEP, Multizone Airflow, Energy Modeling, QGIS Plugin
Environment

Citation

Usta, Y. , Dols, W. and Mutani, G. (2025), Urban-Scale Building Air Change Rate Estimation Using Corrected Wind Speeds and Three-Zone Building Modeling, Energies, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=960123 (Accessed September 17, 2025)

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NIST - National Institute of Standards and Technology published this content on September 16, 2025, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on September 17, 2025 at 09:07 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]