A.R. Saeedi Rezvani - MSc of Civil Engineering-Environmental Branch, Engineering Faculty, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
R. Sharifiyan Attar - MSc Student of Environment Geology, Payam Noor University of Mashhad
Sh. Danesh - Associate Professor, Engineering Faculty, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
M. Saeedi Rezvani - MSc Student of Futures Study, Shakhes Pajouh Institute, Isfahan

In the past, Windcatchers have been used widely by many people including Iranians for buildings ventilation. Expanding human knowledge about the problems of fossil energy, scientists started to reconsider natural systems such as windcatchers for building ventilation. In this study a four-sided prefabricated windcatcher was built and installed on residential building construction in Mashhad. The windcatcher’s height is 1.4 meter and the length of its square like entrance side is 0.8 meter. Furthermore the windcatcher’s simulation was performed by CFD model using the softwares Fluent 6.3 and Gambit 2.3. The accuracy of the model was confirmed in the pilot environment. In order to compare the efficiency of the four-sided windcatcher and the one-sided one, a CFD model of one-sided windcatcher with the same sizes was built. To evaluate these two types of windcatchers, air velocity and flow rate values of both types were calculated and compared for different wind blow speeds. Comparison of these parameters showed that the one-sided windcatcher is more efficient than the four-sided type.

Windcatcher, Simulation, CFD, Flow rate, Ventilation