Building amplification factors for sources near buildings: A wind-tunnel study

The aerodynamics of a building can strongly influence the dispersion of pollutants released from nearby sources. Low releases may be entrained into the building's highly turbulent flow region and result in high pollutant concentrations on the building surface where building air intakes are located. High releases may result in increased concentrations at ground level downwind of the building as a result of the building's influence on the mean flow field. High releases at distances far upwind of the building can produce significant concentrations on the building surfaces if the building extends up into the elevated plume. Concentration measurements from a wind-tunnel study for numerous release locations upwind, above and downwind of each of four rectangular buildings are presented and compared with some previous measurements and calculations. Both building surface and ground-level values are presented. The concentrations are used to compute “building amplification factors”, which are defined as the ratios of the maximum concentration from a given source near the building to the maximum concentration from the same source in the absence of the building. This simple measure of the building's influence showed a significant influence of the building on concentrations from sources far upwind of the building, sources well above the building cavity and sources in the near wake of the building.