Assessment of wind energy potential of buildings by CFD simulation in dense urban environments - From Case Studies to a Dendrogram-Based Design Framework
Abstract
Building-integrated wind turbines (BIWT) remain under-deployed in dense European urban contexts despite their potential contribution to net-zero energy targets. This paper presents a measurement-validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) framework to identify optimal locations for micro-wind turbines on the envelopes of dense Parisian Haussmannian blocks. The methodology couples a multi-month on-site anemometry campaign on two case-study buildings, a calibrated steady RANS digital twin using the realisable k-ε turbulence model, and the introduction of an architecturally integrated accelerator wing -termed aerofoil -placed at the envelope edge to amplify and stabilise the local flow. Quantitative validation against year-long anemometer records yields a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of approximately 18 % and a hit-rate FAC2 above 0.85, meeting the COST 732 acceptance criteria for urban CFD models. On the {É}cole Nationale Sup{é}rieure d'Architecture Paris-Val-de-Seine (ENSAPVS) case study, the inter-tower configuration produces a directional speed-up factor of 3.4 (95 % CI 3.18-3.62) for the prevailing north-westerly sector at +70 m above ground; the addition of the aerofoil yields a further +13 % local speed-up, equivalent to +44 % in extractable power. A capacity-factor analysis based on the measured Weibull distribution and the Savonius rotor power curve estimates an annual yield of approximately 69 MWh, offsetting around 6 % of the building's annual electricity consumption -a substantially lower but more realistic figure than the cube-of-mean estimate. The findings are synthesised in a decision dendrogram that maps wind-rose typology, building plan, height and implantation onto recommended device families, providing architects and engineers with a transferable design-stage tool.
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BibTeX
@misc{serero2026assessment,
title = {{Assessment of wind energy potential of buildings by CFD simulation in dense urban environments - From Case Studies to a Dendrogram-Based Design Framework}},
author = {David Serero and Loïc Couton and Jean-Denis Parisse and Robert Le Roy},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.15769},
eprint = {2609.15769},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15769},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Assessment of wind energy potential of buildings by CFD simulation in dense urban environments - From Case Studies to a Dendrogram-Based Design Framework
AU - David Serero
AU - Lo{ï}c Couton
AU - Jean-Denis Parisse
AU - Robert Le Roy
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.15769
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15769
AB - Building-integrated wind turbines (BIWT) remain under-deployed in dense European urban contexts despite their potential contribution to net-zero energy targets. This paper presents a measurement-validated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) framework to identify optimal locations for micro-wind turbines on the envelopes of dense Parisian Haussmannian blocks. The methodology couples a multi-month on-site anemometry campaign on two case-study buildings, a calibrated steady RANS digital twin using the realisable k-ε turbulence model, and the introduction of an architecturally integrated accelerator wing -termed aerofoil -placed at the envelope edge to amplify and stabilise the local flow. Quantitative validation against year-long anemometer records yields a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of approximately 18 % and a hit-rate FAC2 above 0.85, meeting the COST 732 acceptance criteria for urban CFD models. On the {É}cole Nationale Sup{é}rieure d'Architecture Paris-Val-de-Seine (ENSAPVS) case study, the inter-tower configuration produces a directional speed-up factor of 3.4 (95 % CI 3.18-3.62) for the prevailing north-westerly sector at +70 m above ground; the addition of the aerofoil yields a further +13 % local speed-up, equivalent to +44 % in extractable power. A capacity-factor analysis based on the measured Weibull distribution and the Savonius rotor power curve estimates an annual yield of approximately 69 MWh, offsetting around 6 % of the building's annual electricity consumption -a substantially lower but more realistic figure than the cube-of-mean estimate. The findings are synthesised in a decision dendrogram that maps wind-rose typology, building plan, height and implantation onto recommended device families, providing architects and engineers with a transferable design-stage tool.
ER -