Influence of the building geometry on microeolic installations in the urban context

The renewed interest in microeolic turbines is mainly connected to the attractive prospective of future applications in the urban environment; the feasibility of this scenario has however to be proved yet. Within this context, a numerical CFD analysis was carried out to evaluate the influence of the building geometry on the flow characteristics in the rooftop area. To this purpose, a generic urban environment was modelled and several study cases were defined by taking into account different building proportions and position with respect to the surrounding environment. The flow velocity in the rooftop area of the building was calculated for different incoming wind profiles and compared to the levels in the undisturbed flow. Finally, the results were projected into a net available wind power curve in the rooftop of the building and consequently exploited to evaluate the technical and economical feasibility of a microeolic installation in a similar context.