The DigIndy tunnel is an extension of the Indianapolis combined sewer system that stores the combined sewer overflow during heavy rain conditions. The tunnel system has several openings in and around the city of Indianapolis. Gasses emitted from the tunnel may create health concerns and affect the quality of life for nearby residents. Understanding the air circulation patterns provides valuable insight into where gases are likely to emerge from the tunnel and what steps may be taken to mitigate gas emissions in undesirable locations. The objective of the present work is to develop a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model capable of predicting the air circulation patterns in the DigIndy tunnel under dry weather conditions. In order to inform and validate the CFD model, an experimental campaign was designed and executed to measure weather data and air flow rates within the DigIndy tunnel. Obtaining accurate results requires careful consideration of key physical phenomena to include in the model, geometric simplification strategies, mesh generation strategies, and numerical modeling strategies. Results showed that the seasonal effect, manifest by thermally-driven flow, plays a significant role in the air circulation patterns within the tunnel. Furthermore, results show that tunnel alignment affects the natural air circulation within the tunnel. Large diameter shafts, as the working and retrieval shafts, lead to significant circulation rates in the new tunnel alignments.

With the increasing destruction of our natural environment, and with the realization that we ultimately depend upon this environment, my thesis explores the role of Architecture in designing the built environment to be harmonious with the natural one. How can Architecture be a teaching tool for the natural and built environments? Through the design of The Sun School for Environmental studies involving the integration of a building’s site, photovoltaic technology, daylighting, and natural ventilation, how can Architecture encourage a building to teach about itself? How can a building respond to its occupants, and to sun, wind, daylight and temperature? How can Architecture encourage the occupants to interact with the building, learn about it, respond to it, and consequently to increase their awareness of it? / Master of Architecture

An important aspect in the process of architectural design is the testing of solution alternatives in order to evaluate them on their appropriateness within the context of the design problem. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis is one of the approaches that have gained popularity in the testing of architectural design solutions especially for purposes of evaluating the performance of natural ventilation strategies in buildings. Natural ventilation strategies can reduce the energy consumption in buildings while ensuring the good health and wellbeing of the occupants. In order for natural ventilation strategies to perform as intended, a number of factors interact and these factors must be carefully analysed. CFD simulations provide an affordable platform for such analyses to be undertaken. Traditionally, these simulations have largely followed the direction of Best Practice Guidelines (BPGs) for quality control. These guidelines are built around certain simplifications due to the high computational cost of CFD modelling. However, while the computational cost has increasingly fallen and is predicted to continue to drop, the BPGs have largely remained without significant updates. The need to develop a CFD simulation framework that leverages the contemporary and anticipates the future computational cost and capacity can, therefore, not be overemphasised. When conducting CFD simulations during the process of architectural design, the variability of the wind flow field including the wind direction and its velocity constitute an important input parameter. Presently, however, in many simulations, the wind direction is largely used in a steady state manner. It is assumed that the direction of flow downwind of a meteorological station remains constant. This assumption may potentially compromise the integrity of CFD modelling as in reality, the wind flow field is bound to be dynamic from place to place. In order to improve the accuracy of the CFD simulations for architectural design, it is therefore necessary to adequately account for this variability. This study was a two-pronged investigation with the ultimate objective of improving the accuracy of the CFD simulations that are used in the architectural design process, particularly for the design and analysis of natural ventilation strategies. Firstly, a framework for integrated meso-scale and building scale CFD simulations was developed. Secondly, the newly developed framework was then implemented by deploying it to study the variability of the wind flow field between a reference meteorological station, the Virginia Tech Airport, and a selected localized building scale site on the Virginia Tech campus. The findings confirmed that the wind flow field varies from place to place and showed that the newly developed framework was able to capture this variation, ultimately, generating a wind flow field characterization representative of the conditions prevalent at the localized building site. This framework can be particularly useful when undertaking de-coupled CFD simulations to design and analyse natural ventilation strategies in the building design process. / Doctor of Philosophy / The use of natural ventilation strategies in building design has been identified as one viable pathway toward minimizing energy consumption in buildings. Natural ventilation can also reduce the prevalence of the Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) and enhance the productivity of building occupants. This research study sought to develop a framework that can improve the usage of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analyses in the architectural design process for purposes of enhancing the efficiency of natural ventilation strategies in buildings. CFD is a branch of computational physics that studies the behaviour of fluids as they move from one point to another. The usage of CFD analyses in architectural design requires the input of wind environment data such as direction and velocity. Presently, this data is obtained from a weather station and there is an assumption that this data remains the same even for a building site located at a considerable distance away from the weather station. This potentially compromises the accuracy of the CFD analyses as studies have shown that due to a number of factors such the urban built form, vegetation, terrain and others, the wind environment is bound to vary from one point to another. This study sought to develop a framework that quantifies this variation and provides a way for translating the wind data obtained from a weather station to data that more accurately characterizes a local building site. With this accurate site wind data, the CFD analyses can then provide more meaningful insights into the use of natural ventilation in the process of architectural design. This newly developed framework was deployed on a study site at Virginia Tech. The findings showed that the framework was able to demonstrate that the wind flow field varies from one place to another and it also provided a way to capture this variation, ultimately, generating a wind flow field characterization that was more representative of the local conditions.

The design of residential buildings should have as an important criteria, the adoption of bioclimatic principles, taking into consideration the local climate in order to potentize the desirable characteristics of this climate as a means to meet the requirements for human comfort. In hot and humid climate, such Maceió-AL climate, natural ventilation as design strategy, it is important to the renewal of the air environment, for cooling the building envelop, to minimize energy costs, and to provide satisfactory levels of human thermal comfort. The performance of natural ventilation is strongly linked to the characteristics of the opening in buildings, which influence the potential of ventilation indoors. To make the air movement inside the building happen, it is necessary inlet and outlet openings. Few studies have addressed the potential provided by the ventilation outlet openings. This study sought to estimate the natural ventilation potential of multifamily residential building in Maceió-AL, varying the size of outlet openings of the kitchen/service for two types of urban roughness. To that end, was defined a Maceió - AL typical multifamily building, form which were varied the outlet openings size in the percentage of 10%, 15% and 25% based on the floor area and the middle section area of the environment. The results show that the natural ventilation potential for air quality was satisfactory in all cases. In relation to the recovery of comfort by natural ventilation, the results based on the floor area were close to those based on the middle section of the environment. Despite of the proximity of results, the outlet openings based on the middle section of the environment had a better performance / Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Alagoas / O projeto de edificações residenciais deve ter como critério importante a adoção de princípios bioclimáticos, levando em consideração o clima da região, de forma a potencializar as características desejáveis desse clima como meio de preencher os requisitos de conforto humano. No clima quente e úmido, como é o caso do clima de Maceió-AL, a ventilação natural como estratégia de projeto, é importante para a renovação de ar do ambiente, para o resfriamento da edificação, para minimizar custos com energia elétrica e para proporcionar níveis satisfatórios de conforto térmico humano. O desempenho da ventilação natural está fortemente ligado às características das aberturas das edificações, que influenciam no potencial de ventilação dos ambientes internos. Para que ocorra o movimento de ar dentro de uma edificação, é necessário que existam aberturas de entrada e de saída. Poucos estudos abordam o potencial de ventilação proporcionado pelas aberturas de saída. Esta pesquisa pretendeu estimar o potencial de ventilação de edificações residenciais multifamiliares em Maceió Al, variando o tamanho das aberturas de saída do ar da cozinha/serviço para dois tipos de rugosidade urbana. Para tanto, foi definida uma tipologia de edificação multifamiliar predominante para Maceió-AL, a partir da qual foram variados os tamanhos das aberturas de saída na porcentagem de 10%, 15% e 25% em função da área do piso e da seção média do ambiente. Os resultados encontrados mostram que o potencial de ventilação para a qualidade do ar foi satisfatório em todos os casos. Em relação à restituição do conforto pela ventilação natural, os resultados para as aberturas baseadas na área do piso foram semelhantes aos resultados para as aberturas baseadas na seção média. Apesar da proximidade de resultados, as aberturas baseadas na seção média tiveram melhor desempenho no cômputo geral

High-pressure fog (HPF) systems have advantages for greenhouse cooling compared to traditional systems, such as pad and fan. Such advantages include the potential of improving climate uniformity. Water is distributed throughout the greenhouse space thus reducing water use and energy operation costs, especially if used within naturally ventilated greenhouses. Fog cooling in combination with natural ventilation is difficult to manage, primarily because accurate estimation of air exchange rates is required to determine the precise amount of fog required. This limitation on automated control has been the main reason restricting the widespread commercial use of HPF systems. The goal of this research was to develop and implement a control strategy for a naturally ventilated greenhouse with a variable HPF system. The strategy that was developed included variable rate of fog introduced into the greenhouse, a dynamic control of the air ventilation openings, and it considered the contribution of cooling and humidification from the crop by evapotranspiration. Three evapotranspiration models, including Penman-Monteith, Stanghellini and Takakura, were calibrated and evaluated in terms of prediction accuracy. The Stanghellini model provided the best overall performance for several growing seasons and under two different evaporative cooling systems (i.e. pad and fan and natural ventilation with HPF), and was selected and implemented in the cooling control strategy. The strategy utilized enthalpy and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) of the greenhouse atmosphere for the control parameters. Using a calibrated greenhouse mechanistic climate model, a computer algorithm was created to simulate the capabilities of the proposed. The control strategy that was developed was able to maintain the greenhouse climate closer to the pre-established set points while consuming less water and energy, compared to a constant HPF system based on VPD control. Finally, the strategy was implemented in a single span research greenhouse. A four-day validation study provided good agreement for measured and simulated greenhouse climate values, as well as for water and energy use. Moreover, the strategy was able to maintain VPD around its set point for all the experiments and temperature remained around its set point when outside enthalpy was lower than the enthalpy set point.

A pesquisa parte da hipótese de que, sob as condições climáticas da cidade de São Paulo, a solução de fachada de um edifício de escritórios, com projeto arquitetônico aprimorado para o desempenho térmico com ventilação natural e uso eficiente (carga térmica interna de 32W/m2), proporciona condições de conforto térmico nos ambientes de trabalho por no mínimo 80% das horas ocupadas do ano sem uso de condicionamento artificial. O objetivo geral é a identificação de soluções projetuais de fachada para edifícios de escritórios com ventilação natural em São Paulo com programa de necessidades, projeto arquitetônico e implantação definidos, tendo em vista o aprimoramento do desempenho térmico do edifício para o conforto térmico dos ocupantes. Levantou-se exemplos de edifícios de escritórios recentes que aclamam ser térmica e energeticamente eficientes para seus contextos, e métodos de avaliação de desempenho térmico e energético de fachadas e de edifícios de escritórios, com destaque para a ventilação natural. Com base em dois modelos de edifício de referência elaborados, sessenta e quatro cenários de edifícios de escritórios com diferentes configurações e condições de ventilação foram avaliados com simulação térmica anual, considerando o clima de São Paulo. Para cada cenário de edifício estabeleceu-se uma relação, adequada às condições desejáveis de conforto térmico dos usuários, entre uma vazão de ar de referência e o ganho máximo de calor no ambiente através da fachada. Os resultados das simulações deram subsídios para o projeto de soluções possíveis de fachadas para os vinte e três casos de edifícios de escritórios que apresentaram no mínimo 80% das horas ocupadas no ano em conforto. Os produtos finais da tese são: (I) dois modelos de edifício de escritórios de referência, com características arquitetônicas e parâmetros de ocupação aprimorados para o desempenho térmico da edificação com ventilação natural sob o clima de São Paulo; (II) método de avaliação de desempenho térmico de edifícios de escritórios com ventilação natural; (III) procedimento para o dimensionamento de soluções de fachada para edifícios de escritórios com ventilação natural; (IV) soluções projetuais de fachada para edifícios de escritórios com ventilação natural e desempenho térmico aprimorado. / The research starts from the hypothesis that, under the climatic conditions of the city of São Paulo, the facades solution of an office building, with an improved architectural design for thermal performance with natural ventilation and an efficient use (internal thermal load of 32W/m2), provides thermal comfort conditions at the work spaces for at least 80% of the occupied hours during the year without use of artificial air conditioning. The main objective is to identify facades design solutions for office buildings with natural ventilation in São Paulo with program of activities, architectural design and site plan defined, considering the improvement of the thermal performance of the building for occupant thermal comfort. Recent examples of office buildings which claim to be thermal and energy efficient to their contexts, and methods of thermal and energy performance evaluation of facades and office buildings, with emphasis on natural ventilation, were listed. Based on two proposed reference models of buildings, sixty four scenarios of office buildings with different configurations and ventilation conditions were evaluated with thermodynamic simulations, considering the climate of São Paulo. For each scenario it was established a relationship, in accordance with users acceptable thermal comfort conditions, between a reference ventilation rate and the maximum heat gain in the office through the façade. The results of the simulations provided inputs for the design of possible facades solutions for twenty three cases of office buildings which presented at least 80% of the annual occupied hours in comfort. The final products of the thesis are: (I) two reference models of office buildings, with architectural design and occupational parameters enhanced for the building thermal performance with natural ventilation under the climatic conditions of São Paulo; (II) thermal performance evaluation method for office buildings with natural ventilation; (III) procedure for the design of facades solutions for office buildings with natural ventilation; (IV) facades design solutions for office buildings with natural ventilation and improved thermal performance.

O emprego da arquitetura bioclimática conduz à minimização dos impactos de uma intervenção no meio e à obtenção de uma relação mais harmoniosa entre paisagem e construção. Esta pesquisa evidencia o potencial da ventilação natural como recurso para resfriamento em climas quentes e úmidos, contribuindo para o aprofundamento no estudo de estratégias de projeto que auxiliem na maior integração do edifício com o clima e contexto locais. Analisa as estratégias de ventilação natural adotadas pelo arquiteto Severiano Porto em suas obras, dada a importância deste tipo de solução para obtenção de conforto térmico em clima tropical quente e úmido. Realiza-se por meio de discussão e análise de três obras do arquiteto, localizadas na cidade de Manaus-AM, e as diferentes soluções propostas, quanto à sua adeqüabilidade e eficiência. A análise se divide em duas etapas: primeiramente a análise qualitativa e descritiva, baseada em leitura de projeto, onde é verificada a incorporação de conceitos bioclimáticos nas edificações e são identificadas as soluções de ventilação natural propostas, através do desenho e caracterização dos sistemas encontrados; seguida da análise quantitativa, realizada através de pesquisa de campo e medições das variáveis ambientais temperatura, umidade relativa e velocidade do ar. A análise dos resultados foi realizada com base nos métodos de Mahoney e ASHRAE Standard 55-2004, assim como em alguns parâmetros obtidos em literatura especializada. Pôde-se identificar as estratégias de ventilação natural utilizadas, tanto cruzada como de efeito chaminé, avaliando-se detalhadamente seu desempenho nos três edifícios. A pesquisa contribui no aperfeiçoamento das soluções projetuais de ventilação natural, visando valorizar o uso de estratégias de energia passiva na arquitetura. Evidencia também a contribuição de Porto no desenvolvimento de uma arquitetura atenta a princípios bioclimáticos. / Bioclimatic architecture consists in minimizing the impacts of an intervention on the environment and obtaining a close relationship between building and nature. This research emphasizes the importance of natural ventilation as a cooling resource for hot and humid climates, contributing for the study of project strategies that adjust to local context and environment. Analyses the natural ventilation strategies used by the architect Severiano Porto in his buildings, since it is an important kind of solution to obtain thermal comfort in tropical hot and humid weather. It presents the discussion and analysis of three of his main works, placed in the city of Manaus, and the efficiency of the different solutions proposed. The analysis is divided in two steps: first a qualitative and descriptive analysis, based on project examination, where the incorporation of bioclimatic concepts in the buildings is verified and the natural ventilation solutions are identified; followed by a quantitative analysis, based on field studies and measurement of the variables temperature, humidity and air velocity. The result analysis was based on the Mahoney and ASHRAE Standard 55-2004 methods, and data obtained in specialized literature. Natural ventilation strategies could be identified, either cross as stack, allowing a detailed evaluation of performance of the three buildings. The research contributes on the improvement of the architectonic solutions on natural ventilation, on the purpose of valuing the use of passive energy strategies in architecture. Valorizes also Porto’s contribution to the development of an architecture that is attentive to bioclimatic principles.

A ventilação natural é uma das estratégias mais eficientes para o condicionamento térmico passivo de edificações, ocorrendo por ação dos ventos, por efeito chaminé ou pela combinação de ambos. Em áreas densamente ocupadas, a velocidade do vento é reduzida pelos diversos obstáculos locais, tornando o efeito chaminé e a captação pela cobertura as alternativas mais viáveis para indução da ventilação natural em edificações. Dentre as estratégias de ventilação, destacam-se os sheds, aberturas no telhado, que funcionam como captadores ou extratores de ar, dependendo de sua localização em relação aos ventos dominantes. Apesar de terem um grande potencial, são pouco utilizados devido à falta de dados técnicos acessíveis ao projetista. Além disso, muitas vezes são utilizados para captação ou para extração do ar de forma aleatória, sem uma análise da influência dos parâmetros projetuais na ventilação natural. Essa pesquisa parte da hipótese que existe diferença nesses parâmetros para um shed extrator e para um shed captador de ar e que é possível otimizar a ventilação natural através desses dispositivos. O objetivo geral foi avaliar o impacto de diferentes parâmetros projetuais e climáticos no desempenho de sheds captadores e extratores de ar e propor diretrizes para o projeto desses dispositivos. A metodologia foi composta de estudos paramétricos, a fim de investigar a interdependência de diferentes parâmetros projetuais na ventilação natural por sheds e realizar análises comparativas. O processo baseou-se em análises numéricas através de simulações CFD e a verificação desses resultados por meio de ensaios experimentais em túnel de vento. As análises mostraram uma boa compatibilidade entre os resultados numéricos e experimentais, obtendo uma diferença de no máximo 10% entre as duas ferramentas para a maioria dos pontos monitorados. Com relação às simulações computacionais, constatou-se que o desempenho de sheds é fortemente influenciado pela velocidade e pelos ângulos de incidência dos ventos externos. Além disso, notou-se que existem diferenças nos parâmetros projetuais para um shed extrator e para um captador, sendo que alguns casos apresentaram bons desempenhos em ambas as situações. Por fim, conclui-se que é possível otimizar o uso da ventilação natural através desses dispositivos, sendo que esses resultados auxiliam a prática do projeto arquitetônico na determinação de configurações adequadas. / Natural ventilation is one of the most important strategies for passive cooling of indoor environments. It can occur by wind forces, stack effect or a combination of both strategies. In urban areas the wind speed is reduced due to several obstacles. Stack effect and air intake by the roof can be viable alternatives to induce natural ventilation in buildings. Among the ventilation strategies, sheds can be highlighted. These structures consist of roof openings that work as collectors or extractors of air, depending on their location in relation to the prevailing wind directions. Although they have great potential, they are seldom used by Brazilian architecture, due to lack of technical data available to the designer. Besides, sometimes the sheds are used for air intake or exhaustion without any detailed analysis on the influence of different building design parameters on natural ventilation. The starting hypothesis of this research is that there is a difference in construction parameters for an exhaustion and intake sheds and it is possible to optimize the use of natural ventilation through these devices. The research aims to investigate the potential of air extracting and capturing sheds to promote indoor natural ventilation and proposes guidelines for the design of these devices. The applied methodology consists on parametric studies to investigate the interdependence of different design parameters for natural ventilation in sheds and perform comparative analyzes. The procedure was based on CFD simulations and the verification of such results through experimental tests using wind tunnel. The analyses showed a good compatibility between the numerical and experimental results, obtaining a maximum difference of 10% between the two tools for most of the monitored points. The computer simulations showed that sheds performance is strongly influenced by the external wind speed and its incidence angles. In addition, it was noted that there are differences in design parameters for air extracting and capturing sheds and some cases showed a good performance in both situations. Finally, it was concluded that it is possible to optimize the use of natural ventilation through these devices, and these results support the practice of architectural design in determining appropriate settings.

A pesquisa parte da hipótese de que, sob as condições climáticas da cidade de São Paulo, a solução de fachada de um edifício de escritórios, com projeto arquitetônico aprimorado para o desempenho térmico com ventilação natural e uso eficiente (carga térmica interna de 32W/m2), proporciona condições de conforto térmico nos ambientes de trabalho por no mínimo 80% das horas ocupadas do ano sem uso de condicionamento artificial. O objetivo geral é a identificação de soluções projetuais de fachada para edifícios de escritórios com ventilação natural em São Paulo com programa de necessidades, projeto arquitetônico e implantação definidos, tendo em vista o aprimoramento do desempenho térmico do edifício para o conforto térmico dos ocupantes. Levantou-se exemplos de edifícios de escritórios recentes que aclamam ser térmica e energeticamente eficientes para seus contextos, e métodos de avaliação de desempenho térmico e energético de fachadas e de edifícios de escritórios, com destaque para a ventilação natural. Com base em dois modelos de edifício de referência elaborados, sessenta e quatro cenários de edifícios de escritórios com diferentes configurações e condições de ventilação foram avaliados com simulação térmica anual, considerando o clima de São Paulo. Para cada cenário de edifício estabeleceu-se uma relação, adequada às condições desejáveis de conforto térmico dos usuários, entre uma vazão de ar de referência e o ganho máximo de calor no ambiente através da fachada. Os resultados das simulações deram subsídios para o projeto de soluções possíveis de fachadas para os vinte e três casos de edifícios de escritórios que apresentaram no mínimo 80% das horas ocupadas no ano em conforto. Os produtos finais da tese são: (I) dois modelos de edifício de escritórios de referência, com características arquitetônicas e parâmetros de ocupação aprimorados para o desempenho térmico da edificação com ventilação natural sob o clima de São Paulo; (II) método de avaliação de desempenho térmico de edifícios de escritórios com ventilação natural; (III) procedimento para o dimensionamento de soluções de fachada para edifícios de escritórios com ventilação natural; (IV) soluções projetuais de fachada para edifícios de escritórios com ventilação natural e desempenho térmico aprimorado. / The research starts from the hypothesis that, under the climatic conditions of the city of São Paulo, the facades solution of an office building, with an improved architectural design for thermal performance with natural ventilation and an efficient use (internal thermal load of 32W/m2), provides thermal comfort conditions at the work spaces for at least 80% of the occupied hours during the year without use of artificial air conditioning. The main objective is to identify facades design solutions for office buildings with natural ventilation in São Paulo with program of activities, architectural design and site plan defined, considering the improvement of the thermal performance of the building for occupant thermal comfort. Recent examples of office buildings which claim to be thermal and energy efficient to their contexts, and methods of thermal and energy performance evaluation of facades and office buildings, with emphasis on natural ventilation, were listed. Based on two proposed reference models of buildings, sixty four scenarios of office buildings with different configurations and ventilation conditions were evaluated with thermodynamic simulations, considering the climate of São Paulo. For each scenario it was established a relationship, in accordance with users acceptable thermal comfort conditions, between a reference ventilation rate and the maximum heat gain in the office through the façade. The results of the simulations provided inputs for the design of possible facades solutions for twenty three cases of office buildings which presented at least 80% of the annual occupied hours in comfort. The final products of the thesis are: (I) two reference models of office buildings, with architectural design and occupational parameters enhanced for the building thermal performance with natural ventilation under the climatic conditions of São Paulo; (II) thermal performance evaluation method for office buildings with natural ventilation; (III) procedure for the design of facades solutions for office buildings with natural ventilation; (IV) facades design solutions for office buildings with natural ventilation and improved thermal performance.

O estudo da ventilação natural como forma de amenização climática tem sido tema de diversos trabalhos científicos apresentados em congressos e encontros da área de conforto ambiental tanto no país como no exterior. E segundo o Método de Givoni, em 74% das horas do ano, a ventilação natural é a principal estratégia de projeto para se obter o conforto térmico dos usuários na cidade de Aracaju SE. Assim sendo, tem-se como objeto desta pesquisa a ventilação natural nas habitações, e como objetivo geral um estudo do aproveitamento do vento para promover a ventilação natural em edificações residenciais na cidade de Aracaju, a fim de proporcionar melhores condições térmicas ambientais para os usuários sem a necessidade do condicionamento artificial do ar. O produto final consiste em recomendações de projeto baseadas nas pesquisas teóricas e simulações computacionais com o ANSYS CFX Computacional Fluid Dynamics Software que serviram de base para verificar a influência da ventilação natural na edificação por meio de propostas de alterações no projeto original. / Studies of natural ventilation as a way to minimize climate influences has been theme of several scientific papers presented in congresses and meetings concerning environmental comfort, in Brazil as well as in other countries. According to Givonis method, in 74% of the year hours, natural ventilation is the main strategy to obtain thermal comfort for the inhabitants of Aracaju (Sergipe capital city). Based on that information, the object of this research is the housing natural ventilation, and its general objective is a study of wind use to promote housing natural ventilation and provide better thermal comfort conditions of its users without the need of artificial air conditioning. The final product of this research consists in design recommendations based on theoretical research and computer simulations with ANSYS CFX Computacional Fluid Dynamics Software which became the base to verify the influence of natural ventilation in a building by proposing alterations in the original project.