CFD Assessment of COVID-19 Infection Risk in Naturally Ventilated Detached Houses
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
The airborne nature of COVID-19 dispersion has considerably impacted architectural and ventilation system designs. This research studies the COVID-19 infection risk in typical naturally ventilated detached houses in Thailand. Influencing parameters include the opening size and location of the infected person. Computational Fluid Dynamic was used to simulate the virus spreading in major spaces including the master bedroom, a bedroom and the living room. The Wells-Riley equation was adopted to assess personal infection risk (Pp) and area infection risk (Pa) in 12 case setups. The results reveal that opening size affects more on Pa than Pp. Increasing the opening-to-floor ratio in the range of 0.03 to 0.28 will reduce the Pa and Pp ratios in the range of 0.03 to 0.13 and 0.01 to 0.12, respectively. The location of the source, however, impacts more on Pp than Pa ratios. It varies the trend of the infection risk in the range as high as 0.69 to 0.70 according to other factors including the location of other occupants and the outlet openings.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Adams, W. C. (1993). Measurement of breathing rate and volume in routinely performed daily activities-Final Report Contract (1993) A033–A205. United State Environmental Protection Agency. https://hero.epa.gov/hero/index.cfm/reference/details/reference_id/77086
Alraouf, A. A. (2021). The new normal or the forgotten normal: Contesting COVID-19 impact on contemporary architecture and urbanism. Archnet-IJAR, 15(1), 167–188. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-10-2020-0249
Allen, J. G., & Ibrahim, A. M. (2021). Indoor air changes and potential implications for SARS-CoV-2 transmission. Journal of the American Medical Association, 325(20), 2112–2113. https://doi:10.1001/jama.2021.5053
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. (2021). Guidance for COVID-19 risk reduction in residential buildings. https://www.ashrae.org/technical-resources/guidance-for-covid-mitigation-in-residential-buildings#isolation
Atkinson, J., Chartier., Y., Pessoa-Silva., C. L., Jensen., P. Li., Y., & Seto, W. H. (2009). Natural ventilation for infection control in healthcare settings. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241547857
Bangkok Post. (2022, January 27). Covid to be declared endemic by year's end in Thailand. https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2254503/covid-to-be-declared-endemic-by-years-end-in-thailand
Bettaieb, D. M., & Alsabban, R. (2021). Emerging living styles post-COVID-19: Housing flexibility as a fundamental requirement for apartments in Jeddah. Archnet-IJAR, 15(1), 28–50. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-07-2020-0144
Binazzi, B., Lanini, B., Bianchi, R., Romagnoli, I., Nerini, M., Gigliotti, F., Duranti, R., Milic-Emili, J., & Scano, G. (2006). Breathing pattern and kinematics in normal subjects during speech, singing and loud whispering. Acta Physiologica, 186(3), 233–246. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-1716.2006.01529.x
Buonanno, G., Morawska, L., & Stabile, L. (2020). Quantitative assessment of the risk of airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 infection: Prospective and retrospective applications. Environment International, 145, Article 106112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.106112
Concentration, Heat and Momentum Limited. (2021). Phoenics 2021. https://www.cham.co.uk/_docs/pdfs/phoenics_docs/phoenics_2021.pdf
Cheng, P., Chen, W., Xiao, S., Xue, F., Wang, Q., Chan, P. W., You, R., Lin, Z., Niu, J., & Li, Y. (2022). Probable cross-corridor transmission of SARS-CoV-2 due to cross airflows and its control. Building and Environment, 218, Article 109127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109137
Cheung, T., Li, J., Goh, J., Sekhar, C., Cheong, D., & Tham, K. W. (2022). Evaluation of aerosol transmission risk during home quarantine under different operating scenarios: A pilot study. Building and Environment, 225, Article 109640. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2022.109640
Dai, H., & Zhao, B. (2020). Association of the infection probability of COVID-19 with ventilation rates in confined spaces. Building Simulation, 13, 1321–1327. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-020-0703-5
Dai, Y., Xu, D., Wang, H., & Zhang, F. (2023). CFD Simulations of ventilation and interunit dispersion in dormitory complex: A case study of epidemic outbreak in Shanghai. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(5), Article 4603. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054603
Inprom, N., & Jareemit, D. (2021). Efficient envelope designs to maximize cooling energy savings in housing complexes in Bangkok neighborhoods. Nakhara: Journal of Environmental Design and Planning, 20(1), Article 103. https://doi.org/10.54028/NJ202120103
Inthisorn, P., & Puttanapong, N. (2022). Associations between mobility indices and the COVID-19 pandemic in Thailand. Nakhara: Journal of Environmental Design and Planning, 21(2), Article 215. https://doi.org/10.54028/NJ202221215
Kurnitski, J. (2020). Ventilation rate and room size effects on infection risk of COVID-19. The REHVA European HVAC Journal, 57(5), 26–31. https://www.rehva.eu/rehva-journal/chapter/ventilation-rate-and-room-size-effects-on-infection-risk-of-covid-19
Kurnitski, J., Kiil, M., Wargocki, P., Boerstra, A., Seppänen, O., Olesen, B., & Morawska, L. (2021). Respiratory infection risk-based ventilation design method. Building and Environment, 206, Article 108387. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.108387
Li, X., Lester, D., Rosengarten, G., Aboltins, C., Patel, M., & Cole, I. (2023). A spatiotemporally resolved infection risk model for airborne transmission of COVID-19 variants in indoor spaces. Science of the Total Environment, 812, Article 152592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152592
Li, Y., Qian, H., Hang, J., Chen, X., Cheng, P., Ling, H., Wang, S., Liang, P., Li, J., Xiao, S., Wei, J., Liu, L., Cowling, B. J., & Kang, M. (2021). Probable airborne transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in a poorly ventilated restaurant. Building and Environment, 196, Article 107788. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.107788
Lim, T., Cho, J., & Kim, B. S. (2010). The predictions of infection risk of indoor airborne transmission of diseases in high-rise hospitals: Tracer gas simulation. Energy and Buildings, 42(8), 1172–1181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2010.02.008
Liu, M., Liu, J., Cao, Q., Li, X., Liu, S., Ji, S., Lin, C., Wei, D., Shen, X., Long, Z., & Chen, Q. (2022). Evaluation of different air distribution systems in a commercial airliner cabin in terms of comfort and COVID-19 infection risk. Building and Environment, 208, Article 108590 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2021.108590
Maragkogiannis, K., Kolokotsa, D., Maravelakis, E., & Konstantaras, A. (2014). Combining terrestrial laser scanning and computational fluid dynamics for the study of the urban thermal environment. Sustainable Cities and Society, 13, 207–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2013.12.002
Mediastika, C. E., Kristanto, L., Anggono, J., Suhedi, F., & Purwaningsih, H. (2018). Open windows for natural airflow and environmental noise reduction. Architectural Science Review, 61(5), 338–348. https://doi.org/10.1080/00038628.2018.1502151
Mohamadi, F., & Fazeli, A. (2022). A review on applications of CFD modeling in COVID-19 pandemic. Archives of Computational Methods in Engineering, 29, 3567–3586. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11831-021-09706-3
O’Donovan, A., & O’Sullivan, P. D. (2023). The impact of retrofitted ventilation approaches on long-range airborne infection risk for lecture room environments: Design stage methodology and application. Journal of Building Engineering, 68, Article 106044. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2023.106044
Panraluk, C., & Sreshthaputra, A. (2020). Development of guidelines for enhancement of thermal comfort and energy efficiency during winter for Thailand’s senior centers using surveys and computer simulation. Nakhara: Journal of Environmental Design and Planning, 19, 79–96. https://doi.org/10.54028/NJ2020197996
Park, S., Choi, Y., Song, D., & Kim, E. (2021). Natural ventilation strategy and related issues to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) airborne transmission in a school building. Science of the Total Environment, 789, Article 147764. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.147764
Peters, T., & Halleran, A. (2021). How our homes impact our health: Using a COVID-19 informed approach to examine urban apartment housing. Archnet-IJAR, 15(1), 10–27. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARCH-08-2020-0159
Ramponi, R., & Blocken, B. (2012). CFD simulation of cross-ventilation for a generic isolated building: Impact of computational parameters. Building and Environment, 53, 34–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2012.01.004
Rayegan, S., Shu, C., Berquist, J., Joen, J., Zhou, L., Wang, L., Mbareche, H., Tardif, P., & Ge, H. (2022). A review on indoor airborne transmission of COVID-19– modelling and mitigation approaches. Journal of Building Engineering, 64, Article 105599. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2022.105599
Sakiyama, R. M. N., Frick, J., Bejat, T., & Garrecht, H. (2021). Using CFD to evaluate natural ventilation through a 3D parametric modeling approach. Energies, 14(8), Article 2197. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14082197
Salama, A. M. (2020). Coronavirus questions that will not go away: Interrogating urban and sociospatial implications of COVID-19 measures. Emerald Open Research, 2020, 1(5), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.35241/emeraldopenres.13561.1
Schoen, L. J. (2020). Guidance for building operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. ASHRAE Journal, 62(5), 72–74. https://www.ashrae.org/file%20library/technical%20resources/ashrae%20journal/2020journaldocuments/72-74_ieq_schoen.pdf
Srebric, J., & Chen, Q. (2002). An example of verification, validation, and reporting of indoor environment CFD analyses. ASHRAE Transactions, 108(2), 185–194. https://engineering.purdue.edu/~yanchen/paper/2002-9.pdf
Tantasavasdi, C., Sreshthaputra, A., Suwanchaiskul, A., & Pichaisak, M. (2009). Predicting airflow in naturally-ventilated generic houses. Journal of Architectural/Planning Research and Studies, 6(1), 31–46. https://doi.org/10.56261/jars.v6i1.168778
van Druenen, T., van Hooff, T., Montazeri, H., & Blocken, B. (2019). CFD evaluation of building geometry modifications to reduce pedestrian-level wind Speed. Building and Environment, 163, Article 106293. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106293
Vita, G., Woolf, D., Avery-Hickmott, T., & Rowsell, R. (2023). A CFD-based framework to assess airborne infection risk in buildings. Building and environment, 233, Article 110099. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2023.110099
World Health Organization. (2021). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Ventilation and air conditioning. https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-ventilation-and-air-conditioning
World Health Organization. (2023). WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) dashboard. https://covid19.who.int/
World Health Organization Thailand. (2023). WHO Thailand weekly situation update No. 259. https://www.who.int/thailand/news/detail/15-03-2023-the-situation-report-on-covid19
Zhu, S., Jenkins, S., Addo, K., Heidarinejad, M., Romo, S. A., Layne, A., Ehizibolo, J., Dalgo, D., Mattise, N. W., Hong, F., Adenaiye, O. O., de Mesquita, J., Albert, B. J., Washington-Lewis, R., German, J., Tai, S., Youssefi, S., Milton, D. K., & Srebric, J. (2020). Ventilation and laboratory confirmed acute respiratory infection (ARI) rates in college residence halls in College Park, Maryland. Environment International, 137, Article 105537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105537