Concerns about energy efficiency and indoor air quality have led to more interest in utilizing natural ventilation to achieve thermal comfort in buildings. This work investigates the feasibility of using natural ventilation to achieve thermal comfort in a handball arena with realistic dimensions in the gulf area. As in all sports halls, the criteria inside the occupation area are different from those inside the playing area. The presented work numerically simulates the temperature and 3-D velocity fields inside a full hand-ball arena located in Dubai, UAE using computational-fluid-dynamics at different prevailing wind speeds. The results reveal that, at a prevailing wind temperature of 27 °C, natural ventilation is feasible if the following conditions are met simultaneously: the occupation density is 25% or less of the full arena's capacity, the lighting load is 50% or less of its full capacity and the prevailing wind speed are in range 3-4 m/s. The lower limit on the prevailing wind speed arises from the minimum requirements to achieve thermal comfort at the occupation area while the upper limit arises from the maximum indoor air velocity allowed in the playing area in handball arenas. These conditions can be met during the training activities in the morning or night periods during eight months of the year in the examined location making this energy-saving method conditionally feasible. The numerical results indicate the parts of the arena where the occupants are recommended to sit at each prevailing wind speed.
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