Importance of Design of Air Emitters in the Healthcare Facilities: Computational Fluid Dynamic Maps for Air Distributions Under Mediterranean Climate

Indoor environmental quality is a key objective in the building performance improvement. After the COVID-19 emergency, a lot of healthcare facilities are working to improve the design of air emitter and their management. However, in the existing structure, the scientific literature underlines the lack of methodologies for the evaluation of the state of fact in term of air quality and influence of position or adoption of heating, cooling and ventilation systems mainly in the patient rooms. Thus, the paper, by means of a case study, is aimed to highlight the potentialities of computational fluid dynamic based map for studying the air distribution and the incidence of external and internal forcing in the patient rooms focusing on the positive role that the mechanical ventilation could have in the reduction of infections and in the improvement of environmental conditions. Starting form monitored data in a patient’s room of “A. Cardarelli” hospital of Campobasso (city of central Italy) a numerical model was calibrated through the Design Builder graphic interface of Energy Plus. According to the results of the study, the type of diffusers and the location of the exhaust fans influence the airflow patterns. Since there is a wide variety of parameters that define each room, among these also the outdoor conditions, it is not possible to reach a general conclusion on the optimal room design and supply and exhaust locations.