Treating the cause - not the symptoms.

Finding a solution to the problem of draughty buildings can be fraught with difficulty. Very often only the symptoms are apparent and the root cause can be difficult to identify. All too often a 'try and see' approach is adopted until finally, if luck prevails, a successful solution is found. The design team addressing the problem of a draughty mall at a shopping centre in Shrewsbury adopted a different approach. The possible causes were identified using site knowledge and Computational Fluid Dynamics. A 'blind' analysis of site data was then undertaken by an independent statistician ie. the statistician was not told the possible causes identified by the design team. The statistical analysis of the site data confirmed the views of the design team and the appropriate solution was implemented.